STATE DEPARTMENT
Cuba democracy trips can resume, U.S. says
Organizations that receive U.S. funds to help dissident groups in Cuba
can once again deliver assistance.
BY JUAN O. TAMAYO
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
The Obama administration has lifted its ban on trips to Cuba to deliver
U.S. aid to pro-democracy groups, apparently toughening its posture
after Havana's recent abuses, officials said Thursday.
Such trips were halted after the Dec. 3 arrest of Alan P. Gross, a U.S.
Agency for International Development subcontractor who had delivered
satellite communications equipment to Jewish groups.
The State Department this week notified organizations that receive U.S.
funds for Cuban democracy programs that they can resume the trips, said
three officials of groups involved in the programs.
``To me, this sends a clear signal that [the Obama administration] is
not in agreement with what's going on in the island,'' said one of the
officials, who like the others requested anonymity because of the
sensitivity of the issue.
He referred to Cuba's crackdown against the Ladies in White and the
death of political prisoner Orlando Zapata after a lengthy hunger
strike, which drew a recent condemnation from President Barack Obama.
Word that the travel could resume was accompanied, however, by a
caution: Do not take to the island more equipment or money than you can
explain if you're stopped by Cuban officials.
About a dozen groups had been sending two to five travelers per month to
Cuba before Dec. 3 to deliver ``technical and financial'' assistance to
activists, according to several knowledgeable people.
``This is a good thing,'' said Orlando Gutierrez of the Cuban Democratic
Directorate in Miami. He declined to comment on whether he would send
travelers to Cuba because it would ``put people at risk.''
State Department spokesmen did not immediately return calls seeking
comment, but the Obama administration has long said it favors supporting
peaceful civil society activists in Cuba.
U.S. funds for pro-democracy programs in Cuba -- totaling $45 million
for fiscal years 2009 and 2010 -- are handled through a complex web of
nongovernment organizations and private companies that then arrange to
deliver items such as laptops, radios, books and medicines as well as
cash and encouraging words to dissidents and their families.
CHILL OVER AID
Cuba makes it illegal to receive the U.S. aid, and brands dissidents as
``mercenaries.'' The arrest of Gross -- a 60-year-old development expert
from Potomac, Md., who remains jailed without charges -- cast a further
chill over the programs.
The State Department sent e-mails to the organizations that receive
funds on Dec. 9 and 28 urging a halt to Cuba travel. The organizations
said they took the e-mails as an order, not a recommendation.
``The travel ban immediately prevented anyone from having
person-to-person contacts with dissidents, the kind of contacts that
this program was designed to give,'' said one official of a nonprofit.
The pro-democracy programs still face other hurdles, however, including
a move last month by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., that essentially froze
the funding until USAID and the State Department answer a barrage of
questions about how the money is spent.
Congressional investigations discovered abuses in the programs in the
past, and some members of Congress argue that Gross' arrest shows the
programs must be reshaped to promote democracy more effectively and make
them less ``provocative.''
LACK OF FUNDS
Both USAID and the State Department allocate money to nongovernment
organizations and private firms that in turn support dissidents,
independent journalists and other civil society groups on the island.
But the funds had largely dried up as of late 2009 amid delays in
releasing new funds caused by bureaucratic and political issues,
including an Obama administration decision to review some programs.
Obama's pick to head USAID was sworn in only in December. And at the
State Department, Deputy Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo
Valenzuela was not sworn until November.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/08/1570454/cuba-democracy-trips-can-resume.html
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