By Manuel Roig-Franzia
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, August 9, 2007; Page A11
MEXICO CITY, Aug. 8 -- A diplomatic dispute escalated Wednesday as Cuba
and the United States blamed each other for blocking thousands of Cubans
from legally leaving the island and moving to the United States.
Under a 1994 bilateral agreement, Cuba allows a minimum of 20,000 people
to migrate to the United States as long as they are granted visas by the
U.S. Interests Section in Havana. Last month, the U.S. government
confirmed that it would fall well short of meeting the quota, but blamed
the Cubans for the shortfall, saying Cuba has blocked the United States
from sending diplomatic personnel to the island to process visas.
On Wednesday, Dagoberto Rodríguez, chief of the Cuban Interests Section
in Washington, said that he had sent a formal letter of complaint about
the shortfall and that "we categorically reject" U.S. claims that Cuba
is not living up to its agreement to allow U.S. diplomatic workers
access to the island.
"U.S. authorities deliberately lie," Rodríguez said in a statement.
Rodríguez also disputed U.S. accusations that Cubans are blocking
equipment and other materials needed to process the visas. He said more
than half of a recent U.S. shipment to Cuba contained materials "to
promote subversive activities." He also said the United States was
violating its "wet foot, dry foot" policy -- which grants asylum to most
Cuban migrants who reach U.S. soil -- by failing to send all illegal
Cuban migrants captured at sea back to Cuba.
State Department spokesman Tom Casey responded in a press briefing
Wednesday by accusing Cuba "of interfering with the work of the
Interests Section."
"There have been any number of instances over the last few months where
vital equipment and supplies, personnel needed to repair some of the
things in our Interests Section, have been blocked or prevented from
entry," Casey told reporters.
The dust-up began last month when Cuba informally complained that only
10,274 visas had been granted as of June 30 to Cubans who want to leave
the island. U.S. officials did not dispute the figure and said the
United States would not have enough time to grant all the remaining
visas before Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. It remains unclear
how many visas will eventually be granted, though the shortfall could be
as high 5,000.
Bilateral tensions have deepened since Cuban leader Fidel Castro became
ill last year and handed over power to his brother, Raúl Castro. Since
then, Cuban exiles in Miami have increased their calls for a regime
change. Meanwhile, Fidel Castro has mocked President Bush in editorials,
and Raúl Castro said in a July 26 speech that he is looking forward to
the end of Bush's "erratic and dangerous administration."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/08/AR2007080802189.html
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