(my 2 peso's)
Cuban Government Rounds Up Dozens Of Dissidents
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
HAVANA (AP)--Cuba's communist-run government announced it had rounded up
several dozen opponents and slapped new restrictions on U.S. diplomats'
movements as already bad relations between the two countries worsened.
An official statement read on state television's regular evening news
program said Cuba's actions were the result of "the shameful and
repeated attitude by the chief of Washington's diplomatic mission in
Havana, James Cason, to foment the internal counterrevolution."
Offices at the U.S. Interests Section were closed late Tuesday and
attempts to reach American diplomats here for comment were unsuccessful.
The U.S. State Department last week had reported the travel restrictions
on its diplomats in Havana, but the Cuban government did not confirm the
new measures until Tuesday.
Havana's actions are just the latest in an increasingly ugly exchange of
barbs between the two governments, which have had no regular diplomatic
relations for more than four decades.
Veteran human rights activist Elizardo Sanchez said by telephone late
Tuesday he had confirmed the detentions of at least 10 dissidents and was
working to confirm reports of another 20 or so picked up by state
security agents.
"No nation, no matter how powerful, has the right to organize,
finance and serve as a central barracks for subverting the constitutional
order and violating the law by conspiring, threatening security and
destroying the independence of another country," said the Cuban
government statement,
Havana in recent weeks has become increasingly incensed with Cason, who
last month made a high-profile visit to a meeting of dissidents and spoke
with international journalists gathered there. Since arriving here about
six months ago, Cason has met with opposition members around the island
and last week allowed a group of dissident journalists to use his
official residence for a meeting.
Cason has said he is merely trying to promote democracy and human rights
in the Caribbean nation.
"The Cuban government is afraid: afraid of freedom of conscience,
afraid of freedom of expression, afraid of human rights," Cason told
journalists during last month's meeting with the opposition.
President Fidel Castro responded shortly thereafter by criticizing
Cason's public appearance and comments. "Anyone can see that this is
a shameless and a defiant provocation," he said.
The U.S. State Department in Washington then weighed in calling Castro's
criticisms of Cason "derogatory."
Cuban officials have also become increasingly upset about a new solitary
confinement lockdown on five convicted Cuban spies serving time in
American prisons.
The five were convicted in Miami of trying to infiltrate U.S. military
bases and Cuban exile groups in Florida. Their sentences range from 15
years to life.
Cuban authorities have lionized the men as patriotic heroes and say they
were merely working to prevent Cuban exile groups from launching
terrorist acts against their homeland.
The U.S. State Department last week announced it was restricting the
freedom of travel of Cuban diplomats in the United States, responding to
curbs imposed by Havana on U.S. officials in Cuba.
American government sources said they believe the Cuban government made
the first move as a means of cutting back on Cason's extensive travels
across the island.
MORE ON...
http://cryptome.org/cu-85+.htm
