CUBA: Bush intensifies 'regime change' measures

November 17, 1993
Issue 

Roberto Jorquera

On May 6, US President George Bush announced new measures to tighten the 43-year US economic embargo against Cuba, based on recommendations made in a 450-page report to Bush from the presidential Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, headed by US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

The recommendations are explicitly aimed at overthrowing the Cuban government and restoring a US-dominated capitalist economy on the island.

Cubans living in the US are to be severely restricted from visiting and giving financial remittances to family members living in Cuba. The measures prohibit Cubans resident in the US from sending remittances of money and packages to family members in Cuba if the latter are "government officials or members of the Communist Party".

Visits to Cuba by Cubans resident in the US will be restricted from the current one per year to one every three years. The additional restriction is established by the obligation to seek specific permission from the US government for each trip, instead of the general licence that previously existed.

Under the new measures, the granting of permission to travel to Cuba is limited only for visiting immediate family members. To this effect, the US government has decreed that the definition of family member is limited to "grandparents, grandchildren, parents, siblings, spouses and children".

Commenting on this decision, the Cuban government stated that,"from now on, a cousin, aunt or other close family member is not — according to President Bush — a family member. It also establishes, as well, that Cubans who have recently arrived in the United States will only be able to travel to Cuba three years after having emigrated. While the Cuban government is continually making visits to the country by emigrants more flexible, the US government is increasing the obstacles".

Other anti-Cuba measures authorised by Bush include:

* A reduction in the quantity of money that Cubans resident in the US can spend to cover their costs during visits to Cuba from US$164 to $50 per day.

* Further restrictions on US citizens undertaking educational visits to Cuba and academic exchanges.

* Authorising trials in US courts of company executives from third countries who engage in business with Cuba.

* Intensification of campaigns to pressure third country governments to discourage tourism to Cuba.

At least $59 million is to be channelled by US government agencies into subversive activity on the island over the next two years and $18 million is to be spent on US military flights to beam anti-revolutionary propaganda TV and radio broadcasts into Cuban airspace.

An "international fund" is to be created for the development of the "civil society" in Cuba, which would attract "voluntary" personnel from third countries to travel to Cuba and offer aid to the mercenaries in its service in Cuba.

Public campaigns are to be stepped up against Cuba in other countries in the context of alleged violation of human rights in Cuba, the Cuban government's "subversion of democratically elected governments in Latin America", and other acts by Cuba defined as a threat to US interests.

International conferences are to be organised by the US government in third countries to "disseminate information" on US policies for promoting a "transition to democracy" in Cuba. What Washington means by this is readily apparent to Cubans when they look the US-imposed "transition to democracy" in Iraq.

To oversee the new measures, the US government will create the post of a "Coordinator for the Transition in Cuba" at State Department level. This official will be responsible for checking the application of all the new and existing measures directed at destroying the Cuban Revolution.

In a massive show of opposition to the new measures, at least 1 million Cubans rallied in front of the US Interest Section in Havana on May 14. In his speech at the rally, Cuban President Fidel Castro directed his concluding remarks to Bush, saying: "In the world that you seek to impose on us today there is not the slightest notion of ethics, credibility, standards of justice, humanitarian feelings, nor of the elementary principles of solidarity and generosity...

"This, Mr Bush, is one of the few countries in this hemisphere where not once in 45 years has there been a single case of torture, a single death squad, a single extra judicial execution or a single ruler who has become a millionaire through having held power.

"You lack the moral authority to speak of Cuba, a dignified country, which has withstood 45 years of a brutal blockade, economic war and terrorist attacks that have cost thousands of lives and tens of billions of dollars in economic losses...

"You lack the moral right to speak of terrorism because you are surrounded by a bunch of murderers who have caused the death of thousands of Cubans through terrorist methods...

"You have no right whatsoever, except for that of brute force, to intervene in Cuba's affairs and, whenever the fancy takes you, to proclaim the transition from one system to another and to take measures to make this happen.

"This people can be exterminated — it's as well you know this — or wiped off the face of the Earth, but it cannot be subjugated nor put once again into the humiliating position of a United States neocolony...

"Human beings are not aware of nor can they be aware of freedom in a regime of inequality like the one you represent. No one is born equal in the United States... [where] there is no other equality but that of being poor and excluded.

"Our people, educated in solidarity and internationalism, do not hate the American people nor do they want to see young white, black, Native American, mestizo or Latin soldiers from that country die, young people driven by unemployment to enlist in the military to be sent to any corner of the world in traitorous, preemptive attacks or in wars of conquest...

"Since you have decided that the die is cast ... my only regret is that I would not even see your face because in that case you would be thousands of miles away while I shall be in the front-line to die fighting in defence of my homeland."

From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, June 2, 2004.
Visit the


You need 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳, and we need you!

91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ is funded by contributions from readers and supporters. Help us reach our funding target.

Make a One-off Donation or choose from one of our Monthly Donation options.

Become a supporter to get the digital edition for $5 per month or the print edition for $10 per month. One-time payment options are available.

You can also call 1800 634 206 to make a donation or to become a supporter. Thank you.