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Posted on Wed, May. 06, 2009
Sister of Cuban activist 'Antúnez'
to deliver letter to Congress
BY LESLEY CLARK
lclark@MiamiHerald.com
With efforts to open Cuba to travel and trade
heating up on Capitol Hill, the sister of a
prominent Cuban democracy activist plans
Wednesday to deliver a letter from her brother
decrying three members of the Congressional
Black Caucus for meeting with Fidel and Raúl
Castro -- but no dissidents.
Berta Antúnez is also asking to meet with
California Democrats Barbara Lee and Laura
Richardson and Illinois Democrat Bobby Rush to
tell them her brother was ''outraged that these
members of Congress would not take the time
while in Cuba to meet with any of the island's
human rights and pro-democracy activists.'' The
delegation spent five days in April in Cuba ,
talking with government officials and said on
their return that Havana is interested in
talking to the United States .
But Jorge Luis ''Antúnez'' Garcia Perez
questions the trip in the letter, charging that
while the lawmakers met with the Castros, ``our
home and the five protesters who remain within
it were subject to a brutal siege by the
combined forces of the national and political
police.
''When one is fighting for liberty and human
rights within a totalitarian society like the
one that exists in Cuba, it is hurtful and
offensive that citizens of a free society who
have access to uncensored information visit our
island and lack the courage to inquire about the
unjustly imprisoned political prisoners,'' wrote
''Antúnez,'' who began a hunger strike on Feb.
17 to protest the Cuban government's treatment
of political prisoners.
''There are brave men and women within Cuba that
need to be heard,'' Berta Antúnez said in a news
release. ``I hope that these members that
traveled to Cuba to meet for hours with Castro
will take a few minutes to listen to the pleas
of the victims of Castro's repression.''
The visit comes as advocates for increased trade
and travel to Cuba amp up a campaign to relax
restrictions, saying current U.S.-Cuba policy is
a Cold War relic that has failed to work. U.S.
Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue
joined lawmakers at a Capitol Hill press
conference Tuesday to push for access to Cuba 's
markets. A bill to lift all travel to the island
has been introduced in the House and one of its
sponsors predicted Tuesday he'll have the votes
to see it passed. An influential senator is
expected to soon introduce legislation that
would relax restrictions on trade.
''Lifting the embargo will remove Cuba's excuse
for economic failure, promote a transition to
democracy and offer significant economic
opportunities to American farmers, businesses
and workers,'' Donohue said, noting ``there's so
much opportunity there and it's being taken by
our trading partners.
''Hotel people will tell you today that they
know it's eventually going to open, but they
need years to get down there and figure out how
they're going to take on the foreign hotel guys
that are eating up all the good spots,'' Donohue
said.
Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley criticized
the effort in a conference call with reporters,
saying Cuba 's political situation needs to
improve before the United States relaxes
sanctions against the regime.
''The present political situation has deprived
the Cuban people of any standard of living,''
Grassley said. ``Every other country in the
world has had open trading with Cuba and in 40
years it hasn't changed Castro's mind either. .
. . I think we ought to keep the pressure on.''
Janisset Rivero-Gutiérrez
Secretaria Nacional Adjunta
Directorio Democrático Cubano
Correo Electrónico:
janisset@directorio.org
Teléfono: 305.220.2713
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