Remarks by the President on Cuba
Policy Review
White House: The East Room
May 20, 2002 10:15 A.M.
EDT
THE PRESIDENT:
Bienvenidos. Welcome to the White House for the 100th
anniversary of Cuban independence. Today we honor the ties of
friendship, and family, and faith, that unite the Cuban people
and the people of the United States.
We honor the contributions that
Cuban-Americans have made to all aspects of our national life.
And today, I am issuing a proposal and a challenge that can
put Cuba on the path to liberty.
I appreciate our Secretary of
State being here. He and I take this issue very seriously. He
loves freedom as much as I love freedom. I want to thank Mel
Martinez, a graduate of Pedro Pan, for being here; Mr.
Secretary, you're doing a great job. Welcome.
I appreciate members of the
diplomatic corps who are here. Thank you all for coming; I'm
honored to have you here. I want to thank Senator George Allen
from the Commonwealth of Virginia. I want to thank Congressman
Dan Burton; Mr. Chairman. And, of course, two great members of
the United States Congress, people who have got a lot to
offer, a lot of sound advice: Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Lincoln
Diaz-Balart. Thank you all for coming. (Applause.)
Cuba's independence one century
ago today was the inspiration of great figures such as Felix
Varela. It was the result of determination and talent on the
part of great statesmen such as Jose Marti, and great soldiers
such as Antonio Maceo and Maximo Gomez. Most of all, Cuba's
independence was the product of the great courage and
sacrifice of the Cuban people.
Today, and every day for the past
43 years, that legacy of courage has been insulted by a tyrant
who uses brutal methods to enforce a bankrupt vision. That
legacy has been debased by a relic from another era, who has
turned a beautiful island into a prison. In a career of
oppression, Mr. Castro has imported nuclear-armed ballistic
missiles, and he has exported his military forces to encourage
civil war abroad.
He is a dictator who jails and
tortures and exiles his political opponents. We know this. The
Cuban people know this. And the world knows this. After all,
just a month ago the United Nations Commission on Human
Rights, in a resolution proposed by the nations of Latin
America, called upon Cuba's government to finally -- to
finally -- begin respecting the human rights of its
people.
Through all their pains and
deprivation, the Cuban people's aspirations for freedom are
undiminished. We see this today in Havana, where more than
11,000 brave citizens have petitioned their government for a
referendum on basic freedoms. If that referendum is allowed,
it can be a prelude, a beginning for real change in
Cuba.
The United States has no designs
on Cuban sovereignty. It's not a part of our strategy, or a
part of our vision. In fact, the United States has been a
strong and consistent supporter of freedom for the Cuban
people. (Applause.) And it is important for those who love
freedom on that beautiful island to know that our support for
them will never waver. (Applause.)
Today, I'm announcing an
Initiative for a New Cuba that offers Cuba's government a way
forward towards democracy and hope, and better relations with
the United States.
Cuba's scheduled to hold
elections to its National Assembly in 2003. Let me read
Article 71 of the Cuban Constitution. It says, "The National
Assembly is composed of deputies elected by free, direct, and
secret vote." That's what the constitution says. Yet, since
1959, no election in Cuba has come close to meeting these
standards. In most elections, there has been one candidate,
Castro's candidate.
All elections in Castro's Cuba
have been a fraud. The voices of the Cuban people have been
suppressed, and their votes have been meaningless. That's the
truth. Es la verdad. In the 2003 National Assembly elections
in Cuba, Cuba has the opportunity to offer Cuban voters the
substance of democracy, not its hollow, empty forms.
Opposition parties should have
the freedom to organize, assemble, and speak, with equal
access to all airwaves. All political prisoners must be
released and allowed to participate in the election process.
Human rights organizations should be free to visit Cuba to
ensure that the conditions for free elections are being
created. And the 2003 elections should be monitored by
objective outside observers. These are the minimum steps
necessary to make sure that next year's elections are the true
expression of the will of the Cuban people.
I also challenge Cuba's
government to ease its stranglehold, to change its
stranglehold on private economic activity. Political and
economic freedoms go hand in hand, and if Cuba opens its
political system, fundamental questions about its backward
economic system will come into sharper focus.
If the Cuban government truly
wants to advance the cause of workers, of Cuban workers,
surely it will permit trade unions to exist outside of
government control. If Cuba wants to create more good-paying
jobs, private employers have to be able to negotiate with and
pay workers of their own choosing, without the government
telling who they can hire and who they must fire.
If Cuba wants to attract badly
needed investment from abroad, property rights must be
respected. If the government wants to improve the daily lives
of its people, goods and services produced in Cuba should be
made available to all Cuban citizens. Workers employed by
foreign companies should be paid directly by their employers,
instead of having the government seize their hard-currency
wages and pass on a pittance in the form of pesos. And the
signs in hotels reading "Solamente Turistas" should finally be
taken down.
Without major steps by Cuba to
open up its political system and its economic system, trade
with Cuba will not help the Cuban people. (Applause.) It's
important for Americans to understand, without political
reform, without economic reform, trade with Cuba will merely
enrich Fidel Castro and his cronies. (Applause.)
Well-intentioned ideas about
trade will merely prop up this dictator, enrich his cronies,
and enhance the totalitarian regime. It will not help the
Cuban people. With real political and economic reform, trade
can benefit the Cuban people and allow them to share in the
progress of our times.
If Cuba's government takes all
the necessary steps to ensure that the 2003 elections are
certifiably free and fair -- certifiably free and fair -- and
if Cuba also begins to adopt meaningful market-based reforms,
then -- and only then -- I will work with the United States
Congress to ease the ban on trade and travel between our two
countries. (Applause.)
Meaningful reform on Cuba's part
will be answered with a meaningful American response. The goal
of the United States policy toward Cuba is not a permanent
embargo on Cuba's economy. The goal is freedom for Cuba's
people. (Applause.)
Today's initiative invites the
Cuban government to trust and respect Cuban citizens. And I
urge other democracies, in this hemisphere and beyond, to use
their influence on Cuba's government to allow free and fair
National Assembly elections, and to push for real and
meaningful and verifiable reform.
Full normalization of relations
with Cuba -- diplomatic recognition, open trade, and a robust
aid program -- will only be possible when Cuba has a new
government that is fully democratic, when the rule of law is
respected, and when the human rights of all Cubans are fully
protected. (Applause.)
Yet, under the Initiative for a
New Cuba, the United States recognizes that freedom sometimes
grows step by step. And we'll encourage those steps. The
current of history runs strongly towards freedom. Our plan is
to accelerate freedom's progress in Cuba in every way
possible, just as the United States and our democratic friends
and allies did successfully in places like Poland, or in South
Africa. Even as we seek to end tyranny, we will work to make
life better for people living under and resisting Castro's
rule.
Today I'm announcing a series of
actions that will directly benefit the Cuban people, and give
them greater control of their economic and political destiny.
My administration will ease restrictions on humanitarian
assistance by legitimate U.S. religious and other
non-governmental organizations that directly serve the needs
of the Cuban people and will help build Cuban civil society.
And the United States will provide such groups with direct
assistance that can be used for humanitarian and
entrepreneurial activities.
Our government will offer
scholarships in the United States for Cuban students and
professionals who try to build independent civil institutions
in Cuba, and scholarships for family members of political
prisoners. (Applause.) We are willing to negotiate direct mail
service between the United States and Cuba.
My administration will also
continue to look for ways to modernize Radio and TV Marti,
because even the strongest walls of oppression cannot stand
when the floodgates of information and knowledge are opened.
And in the months ahead, my administration will continue to
work with leaders all around our country, leaders who love
freedom for Cuba, to implement new ways to empower individuals
to enhance the chance for freedom.
The United States will continue
to enforce economic sanctions on Cuba, and the ban on travel
to Cuba, until Cuba's government proves that it is committed
to real reform. (Applause.) We will continue to prohibit U.S.
financing for Cuban purchases of U.S. agricultural goods,
because this would just be a foreign aid program in disguise,
which would benefit the current regime. (Applause.)
Today's initiative offers Cuba's
government a different path, leading to a different future --
a future of greater democracy and prosperity and respect. With
real reform in Cuba, our countries can begin chipping away at
four decades of distrust and division. And the choice rests
with Mr. Castro.
Today, there is only one nation
in our hemisphere that is not a democracy. Only one. There is
only one national leader whose position of power owes more to
bullets than ballots. Fidel Castro has a chance to escape this
lonely and stagnant isolation. If he accepts our offer, he can
bring help to his people and hope to our relations.
If Mr. Castro refuses our offer,
he will be protecting his cronies at the expense of his
people. And eventually, despite all his tools of oppression,
Fidel Castro will need to answer to his people.
(Applause.)
Jose Marti said, "Barriers of
ideas are stronger than barricades of stone." For the benefit
of Cuba's people, it is time for Mr. Castro to cast aside old
and failed ideas and to start to think differently about the
future. Today could mark a new dawn in a long friendship
between our people, but only if the Castro regime sees the
light.
Cuba's independence was achieved
a century ago. It was hijacked nearly half a century ago. Yet
the independent spirit of the Cuban people has never faltered.
And it has never been stronger than it is today. The United
States is proud to stand with all Cubans, and all
Cuban-Americans, who love freedom. And we will continue to
stand with you until liberty returns to the land you love so
well.
Viva Cuba Libre.
(Applause.)
END 10:35 A.M.
EDT