Diplomat Worried of U.S. Plans for Cuba

Monday, January 19, 2004

(12:13 AM ET)

By George Gedda

Associated Press Writer

To Rodriguez, the most inexplicable and troubling development has been the recent U.S. allegation of Cuban meddling in Latin America, sometimes in collaboration with the country's main South American ally, Venezuela. “That issue could legitimately have been raised 20 years ago, but not now. They are trying to recreate the phantom of Cuban interference.”

WASHINGTON -- AP
Dagoberto Rodriguez, Cuba's top diplomat in Washington, spends his days looking for hints about what the Bush administration has in mind for his country. He doesn't like what he sees.

Is ``regime change'' in the cards in this election year, he wonders. That possibility can't be ruled out, he says, because the administration ``has proved a tendency in the past to solve problems through violent means.''

The Bush White House has never outlined such an objective. It has, however, expressed an interest in hastening a transition to democratic rule in communist-run Cuba.

Rodriguez is not sure what that means, and he spelled out his concerns to a reporter in an interview last week at Cuba's stately diplomatic mission a mile or so north of the White House.

He said Cuba's suspicions have been heightened by what he sees as several ``provocative'' U.S. actions in recent days.

One was what he described as the unjustified expulsion of Cuban diplomat Roberto Socorro Garcia last month. Rodriguez adamantly denied news accounts attributed to State Department officials that Garcia was expelled for associating with criminal elements.

Another concern was the State Department's recent cancellation of talks on migration issues, which normally are held every six months. U.S. officials said Cuba has not been cooperating in achieving the goal of safe, orderly and legal immigration. Rodriguez denied the allegation, contending that Cuba always takes U.S. proposals seriously.

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2003 © The Associated Press.

I wonder if this is why Castro has shut the net to Cuba.

“Cuba says that, given its limited resources, it needs to ensure that the internet is primarily used for the social good.”

Funny. I guess the last thing he really needs right now is for all his happy people to start learning about the fires he’s been poking around in.

Dan