(Will affect food, medicine, charter flights, remittances)
March 20, 1998
WASHINGTON -- The Clinton administration is easing U.S. controls on humanitarian shipments of food and medicine and on charter flights to Cuba, and on remittances of cash by Cuban-Americans to relatives in Cuba.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright discussed the administration actions in a briefing at the State Department March 20. She said the actions do not mean that the administration is changing policy towards Cuba. That policy, she said, remains to seek a peaceful transition to democracy.
After 38 years, Cuban leader Fidel Castro appears "as autocratic as ever," she said, but the Cuban people nevertheless are beginning to think beyond him.
"We are taking these steps now not because of anything the Castro regime has done," Albright said, "nor are we doing it to improve official relations with the Government of Cuba. On the contrary, we are acting because of new possibilities that exist outside the government's control. Those possibilities were brought into the open this past January by Pope John Paul II's historic visit to Cuba."
Referring to the pope's visits to his native land during the Cold War, Albright said that "in Poland, and I suspect in Cuba, thousands upon thousands of citizens realized for the first time that they shared a deep bond not created or controlled by the state. This is the kind of realization that can produce historic change."
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
REMARKS BY SECRETARY OF STATE MADELEINE K. ALBRIGHT ON CUBA
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Good afternoon. Today, I want to discuss with you four actions the President has decided to take to reach out to the people of Cuba to make their lives more tolerable.
First, we will work with Congressional leaders such as Chairman Helms, with whom I discussed this subject at length yesterday, and with Senator Dodd, Senator Graham and Senator Torricelli and others in both the Senate and House who have demonstrated concern about the plight of the Cuban people. Together, we will develop bipartisan legislation to meet humanitarian food needs on the island.
Second, we will streamline and expedite the issuance of licenses for the sale of medical supplies to Cuba. Third, we will resume licensing direct humanitarian charter flights. Finally, we will restore arrangements to permit Cuban-American families to send remittances to their relatives in Cuba.
Let me explain what these actions do and do not mean, and why we have taken them at this time. Let me be very clear. They do not reflect a change in policy towards the Cuban Government. That policy has been, and remains, to seek a peaceful transition to democracy.
Over the past two decades, the Americas have been transformed from a hemisphere dense with dictators to one in which every single country, except for Cuba, has an elected government, if you will look at your maps. We believe the Cuban people deserve the same rights and liberties as their counterparts from Patagonia to Prudhoe Bay.
With that goal in mind, we will maintain economic pressure through the embargo and the Helms-Burton Act. We will seek to increase multilateral support, which has been building, to press for political openness in Cuba and respect for human rights. We will continue to shine a spotlight on Havana's prisoners of conscience and call for their release. We will strive to ensure that migration from Cuba is safe, orderly and legal.
And we will not forget that, twenty-five months ago, three U.S. citizens and one legal resident were shot down in international airspace, nor will we cease our efforts with the world community to make Castro's regime take responsibility for those acts of murder.
Of course, we would like to see Castro embrace democracy. But after 38 years, he appears as autocratic as ever -- continuing to arrest political dissidents and exile others. Nevertheless, the Cuban people are beginning to think beyond Castro. We need to do the same.
The basis of any dictatorship's power is control. The more dependent people are on the state, the more they are controlled. We can help to lessen the Cuban people's dependence on the Cuban state by addressing humanitarian needs, aiding the development of a civil society and strengthening the role of the Church and other non-governmental organizations. By so doing, we can begin to empower Cuban citizens and help them prepare to make a peaceful transition to democracy.
We are taking these steps now not because of anything the Castro regime has done; nor are we doing it to improve official relations with the Government of Cuba. On the contrary, we are acting because of new possibilities that exist outside the government's control. Those possibilities were brought into the open this past January by Pope John Paul II's historic visit to Cuba. The Pope went to Cuba, in his own words, as a pilgrim of love, of truth and of hope. And he delivered a clear and unambiguous message that prisoners of conscience should be released; human rights should be respected; and a climate of freedom should prevail.
Earlier this month, I met with His Holiness in Rome. He spoke warmly about the reception his message had received. He expressed support for steps that would reduce the suffering and isolation of the Cuban people. And he has publicly stated the hope that his pilgrimage to Cuba would have an impact similar to that of the trips he had made earlier to a Poland then still behind the Iron Curtain and still ruled by martial law.
Of course, Cuba is not Poland, where pride in the Pope's background gave his visit extra meaning. But there are similarities. As in Cuba, the Pope's visits to Poland were arranged by the Church, not the government; and the outpouring of enthusiasm astonished the regime, which had assumed wrongly that years of dictatorship had caused religious faith to erode. In Poland, and I suspect in Cuba, thousands upon thousands of citizens realized for the first time that they shared a deep bond not created or controlled by the state. This is the kind of realization that can produce historic change.
Over the past month, in Florida and elsewhere, I've consulted with the Cuban-American community. Not surprisingly, there is a divergence of views. But there is agreement that the Pope's visit generated huge currents of energy and excitement within Cuba. And that we should explore ways to help the Cuban people without helping the government.
As we implement the steps I'm announcing today, we will do all we can to meet that standard. For example, we will continue to verify that medicines reach the Cuban people and are not diverted to other uses. We will allow humanitarian, but not tourist or business, flights. And we know that we will have a better chance of seeing that remittances go to the intended recipients if they are regularized in transparent and legal channels.
For far too long, the Cuban people have been held back by the old thinking and brutal policies of Fidel Castro -- a leader they never chose. The time has come to move on, and to look ahead to a new era of fresh thinking based on timeless principles.
We know that in expectation of the Pope's visit, Christmas Day had special meaning in Cuba this year. We will not rest until another day -- Election Day -- has real meaning there, as well. That day will come. We hope soon.
Bearing in mind Jose Marti's words that fraternity and solidarity is never a concession, it is always a duty, we will do all we can to help meet the needs of the Cuban people -- our neighbors, brothers and sisters -- as they prepare for that new day.
Thank you very much.
(end transcript)