Dialogue to wait for next president
By MATTHEW LEE | The Associated Press
January 18, 2008
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WASHINGTON - Cuba is not interested in improving relations with the
United States while President Bush is in office and will wait for a
change in leadership before extending anew an offer for dialogue, Cuba's
top diplomat in the United States said Thursday.
As the island nation heads into weekend parliamentary elections that are
expected to extend ailing Fidel Castro's grip on power, Havana is
looking to America's vote in November to decide whether it wants to talk
to Washington, said Jorge Alberto Bolanos Suarez, head of the Cuban
Interest Section in Washington.
He said Cuban offers for dialogue with the United States made by
Castro's brother, Raul, after he took day-to-day control of the
government in 2006 were not intended for the Bush administration, which
staunchly supports the nearly 46-year-old U.S. economic embargo of Cuba
that was designed to choke off funds to the Castro government in an
effort to force a change in the communist system.
"When Raul spoke about it he was not referring to the present
administration," Bolanos said. "He was speaking clearly that after the
U.S. elections, the new [U.S.] government should take a position with
regard to Cuba.
"That is the time when Cuba would be ready to dialogue on the basis of
mutual respect, without the arrogance that has always colored the U.S.
position," he said in Spanish. "I'm not concerned what the current State
Department says because we are waiting for what the next one has to say
about Cuba."
Soon after emergency intestinal surgery forced Castro in July 2006 to
cede power to a provisional government headed by his brother, Raul
Castro reached out for dialogue with the U.S. government as long as
Cuba's sovereignty was respected. He repeated the offer in December 2006
in a sign he had consolidated his leadership during Fidel's absence.
Many longtime Cuba watchers consider Raul the more pragmatic of the
Castros, and likely to communicate better with Washington. At the time
of the offers, the State Department brushed them off, saying Castro
should open a dialogue with his people, end the one-party communist
political system and hold free and fair elections.
Bolanos' comments on Thursday appeared to indicate that Havana is
refusing all but cursory contact with the United States until Bush, who
has pursued strong anti-Castro policies for his seven years as president
so far, is gone in January 2009.
Prospects for significant changes in U.S. policy toward Cuba no matter
who takes over the White House from Bush, however, are uncertain.
Meanwhile, Bolanos said Castro, 81, who has not been seen in public
since ceding power to Raul, might not be healthy enough to campaign for
Sunday's elections in Cuba, but he is strong enough to work for the
Cuban people.
"He has always won the seat, he has always gotten the highest
[proportion] of votes of the population. I think this election will not
be different," Bolanos said.
He disputed persistent U.S. charges that Cuban elections fall far short
of democratic standards.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/cuba/sfl-flacuba0118sbjan18,0,3149405.story
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