East Europe grandees blast Castro

["Alain St-Amour" <alainstamour@xxxxxxxx>]

http://tinyurl.com/nuc6

East Europe grandees blast Castro
BBC - 18 September, 2003

The former presidents of three Eastern European countries have launched a 
campaign calling for the peaceful overthrow of Cuba's communist government.

In a letter sent to several leading newspapers internationally, Vaclav Havel of 
the Czech Republic, Lech Walesa of Poland and Arpad Goencz of Hungary said 
European countries should set up a fund to help opposition groups within Cuba.

The three, all of whom were dissidents when their countries were ruled by 
communist regimes, said President Fidel Castro's regime was "at its last gasp" 
and compared its situation to Eastern Europe in the late 1980s.

Facing an economic downtown and growing discontent, the Cuban Government in 
March arrested 75 members of opposition groups.
But the former presidents said in their letter that the dissident movement had 
not been adversely affected.

"The internal opposition is getting stronger, it has not been brought to its 
knees by the police round-up last March, times are changing, the revolution is 
getting old and the regime is getting nervous," they said.

"Fidel Castro knows well that one day the revolution will die with him."

Embargo attacked

The letter said that European governments were being too soft on Cuba.

"Europe ought to make it unambiguously clear that Fidel Castro is a dictator, 
and that for democratic countries a dictatorship cannot become a partner until 
it commences a process of political liberalisation," it said.

It also called for a "Democratic Cuba Fund" to support civil society which 
should be "ready for immediate use in the event of political change".

But it attacked the United States trade embargo, saying that this was allowing 
Mr Castro to shift the blame for the difficult economic situation.

Europe and the US should seek a common policy on Cuba, the former leaders added.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/3119080.stm


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