Going to Cuba...read and weep

Posted by Grshel1 on October 10, 2003 - 10:44 am

“CLEARLY, THE CASTRO regime will not change by its own choice,” Bush told a gathering at the White House Rose Garden. “But Cuba must change.” The president said that too many Americans were bypassing the restriction against travel to Cuba. They are using humanitarian relief work as a cover to go on holiday or “carry cash into Cuba,” he said. “The Department of Homeland Security will enforce the law,” he said, adding that Americans also will be prevented from traveling through third countries or by private vessel. The administration had been signaling for weeks that new steps concerning Cuba were being planned. A small group of advisers, including Secretary of State Colin Powell, were asked to provide advice on hastening what the administration calls the “inevitable democratic transition in Cuba.” Some of Cuban President Fidel Castro’s most ardent opponents have criticized the Bush administration for not doing more to bring about democratic change in Cuba. Florida, a vote-rich swing state, is one of the states Bush has visited most since becoming president. The votes of Miami’s Cuban-American community could be crucial in the 2004 presidential election. Bush’s relations with his backers in Miami hit a low point in July when Washington returned 15 migrants to Cuba after receiving assurances they would not be executed for hijacking a government-owned boat that was intercepted at sea by the Coast Guard.

Replies Re: Going to Cuba...read and weep Sandman 5:40:16 10/23/03 Re: Going to Cuba...read and weep Kjh40926 15:19:49 10/10/03 How to get to Cuba Explorer8939 19:05:32 10/21/03

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