 |
|
|
 News from Around the Americas | August 2005 
US Appoints Coordinator for Overthrow of the Cuban Revolution
 Granma International
Havana — Ricardo Alarcón, president of the Cuban Parliament, stated that the appointment of Caleb McCarry as coordinator of the so-called transition program for Cuba is proof that the United States is hardening its policy toward the Revolution.
On July 28, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice designated McCarry, a Republican advisor to the House of Representatives’ International Relations Committee, as coordinator for that plan drawn up in 2004, which Cuba has described as annexationist.
“That coordinator has been designated so that from now on, he will devote himself to everything that the United States does to overthrow the Cuban Revolution,” Alarcón said during a gathering with members of the Pastors for Peace Friendshipment Caravan.
According to a Reuters report, it is not known exactly what McCarry’s post entails. He was previously director of a team of assistants to the House Sub-Committee for the Western Hemisphere, a committee on which Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen – part of the extremist Cuban-American right-wing based in Miami, who supports the intensification of the economic blockade of the island – has been very active.
In his speech on July 26, the Day of National Rebellion, President Fidel Castro said that the aforementioned transition scheme drafted by the White House is a “macabre plan.”
The creation of a post for “transition coordinator” in Cuba was one of the recommendations to U.S. President George W. Bush by the so-called Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, created by Bush during his first term.
“Absurd And Shameful,” U.S. Experts Say
Washington — The naming of a “coordinator for the transition in Cuba” by the Bush administrations is “absurd, shameful,” and an affront to Cuba’s national sovereignty, according to U.S. experts on Latin America.
“This is the most absurd appointment that I have seen in my life,” Wayne Smith, of the Center for International Policy, told DPA in Washington.
For his part, Larry Birns, president of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, said that he is “simply indignant, it’s a shame. It is so strange, that it is hard for me to believe that this excess is true.”
Birns said that its is an “abominable” decision that “will only deepen the United States’ lack of legitimacy in Latin America.”
“I think that the Latin American reaction will be an attempt to include Cuba more in inter-American activities. Latin America is prepared to challenge Washington. This appointment will hurt the perspectives Washington had regarding the Free Trade Area of the Americas,” Birns affirmed.
Smith, for his part, commented, “The rest of Latin America is going to laugh, more than anything. But they will also see it as one more indication that the United States continues to see Latin America as a protectorate to keep under control. I think that Latin Americans will see this as an insult to Latin American sovereignty.”
Regarding the motives of the Bush administration in creating this post, Birns commented, “I think that the secretary of state stays up all night thinking about what she can do tomorrow that she hasn’t done today to please Cuban-American voters in Miami.”
However, Smith expressed a different opinion. “The opinions of voters in Florida are changing, and the majority of Cuban-Americans are also offended by this. There is a small group of hard-line exiles who are happy, and they are the ones who give the most money to campaigns.”
Alarcón: I Will Miss Noriega’s Stupidities
Havana — Ricardo Alarcón, president of Cuba’s National Assembly, said that he will miss the “stupidities” of Roger Noriega, the U.S. assistant secretary of state, who has announced his resignation.
“I’m going to miss him a lot, if he no longer goes in front of the cameras saying the stupidities he says. Actually, he’s a very funny guy,” Alarcón said ironically to reporters during his meeting with Pastors for Peace.
Noriega, known for his hard-line stance toward Cuba and Venezuela, will leave his post in September, according to Sean McCormack, spokesman for the U.S. State Department.
“I’m really sorry about it, because we’re going to lose a real comic figure. He’s going to have to be hired for some other function,” the Cuban leader added. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us