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Fidel's daughter calls for
continuation of US embargo against
Cuba
Agence France Presse
August 19, 2002 Monday 11:28 PM Eastern
Time
MIAMI, Aug 18--The estranged daughter of Cuban President Fidel Castro
called Sunday for a continuation of the US economic embargo
against Havana, as US lawmakers mull plans to ease sanctions
against the Communist island nation.
Alina Fernandez, a
former dissident and vocal opponent of her father who now
lives in exile in Miami, told Fox television that it was more
important to tighten the screws on Cuba's Communist system --
hopefully to force its collapse -- than to attempt to reap
economic gain from trade with the island. "It used to be a
moral issue, but now it's becoming a business issue, and
that's the problem. You're not thinking any more about the
human rights or the freedom of the Cubans -- solidarity with
the Cubans," she said.
Her advice to US government
officials and business leaders seeking to resume trade ties
was succinct: "Stay away, that's my idea. You have to think in
human terms first," she said.
By doing away with the
trade embargo on Cuba "you'll only be putting money in the
dictator's pockets," she said of her father, whom she has not
seen or spoken to in 20 years.
Forty-three years after
taking power in an armed revolution, Castro celebrated his
76th birthday last week, still firmly in control of the Cuban
political scene and showing no signs of abandoning socialism
or the one-party state.
Many US politicians, however,
have softened their views about the advisability of trade and
travel to Cuba: the House of Representatives last month called
for an easing of the travel ban and other aspects of the
economic embargo -- a measure that is now before the US
Senate.
Copyright
2002 Agence France Presse
Related:
Cuban Defector: Congressional efforts to
lift Cuba travel restrictions "a gift for Fidel"
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