U.S.-CUBA RELATIONS
U.S. tells Cuba: no middlemen, please
The United States has told Cuba to stop using third parties to reach out
to Washington as the U.S. government recognizes an OAS role on the island.
BY PABLO BACHELET
pbachelet@MiamiHerald.com
PANAMA CITY, Panama --
Several third countries and foreign personalities, presumed to be
carrying messages from Havana, have approached the U.S. government since
Fidel Castro took ill, U.S. officials have confirmed.
But the State Department told Havana to use formal channels if it wants
to communicate with Washington, and it has not heard from Cuban
officials since, the officials added.
The rare U.S. confirmation of those approaches nevertheless suggests a
small crack in the Bush administration's public stance of rejecting
top-level contacts with Cuba and instead urging Havana to talk with its
domestic opponents.
On Monday, the administration also for the first time said publicly that
the 34-country Organization of American States has a role to play in
Cuba, not as an intermediary with Washington but in guiding Cuba toward
democracy.
OAS member countries overwhelmingly believe the U.S. policy to isolate
Cuba is wrong. And several countries like Spain are holding talks with
Cuba in the hopes of gaining more influence over Havana's new leadership.
NO FORMAL CONTACTS
The Bush administration has had no formal high-level contacts with
Havana since 2004, when it called off twice-a-year talks on immigration
matters. Raúl Castro has twice reiterated Cuba's desire for talks with
the United States since he assumed his brother's powers last summer,
provided they respect Cuba's ``sovereignty.''
U.S. officials declined to identify the intermediaries, but one said
that ''many third countries and individuals'' have offered themselves as
go-betweens with Cuba, presumably with the approval of Raúl Castro.
The State Department contacted a Cuban diplomat in Washington in late
March to inquire whether the intermediaries indeed represented Havana,
and was told ``probably not.''
One State Department official, who is closely involved on Cuban matters
but declined to be identified in order to discuss sensitive diplomatic
issues, said the Cubans were then told that any communications should be
made through each other's diplomatic missions in Havana and Washington,
or at the periodic ''fence line'' talks between U.S. and Cuban
commanders at the U.S. navy base in Guantánamo.
The official said Cuba's use of back channels had a ''clandestine'' air.
''We're not going to do that,'' said the official, adding that ``we want
to be transparent.''
RECENT GESTURES
Although Cuba-U.S. relations have been cold for a long time, especially
under the Bush administration, Cuba has made some recent gestures of
apparent cooperation, including handing over two U.S. fugitives to
Washington.
Both the U.S. offer for Cuba to contact Washington through formal
channels and the agreement for the OAS to discuss Cuba come with strings
attached, however.
The State Department is insisting that any discussions must be aimed at
bringing democratic reforms to Cuba, the State Department official said.
Cuba has long maintained that there should be no preconditions for talks.
On Monday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at the annual
gathering of foreign ministers from the Organization of American States
in Panama that ``a process of change is taking place in Cuba, and the
OAS must be ready to help the Cuban people realize their aspirations and
freedom and to secure the rights that are now enjoyed within our
democratic community of the Americas.''
The State Department official said it was the first time that Washington
had asked the OAS to consider the issue. Cuba was suspended from the OAS
in 1962 and the OAS has democracy clauses that would bar Havana from
returning.
U.S. officials say the administration wants the OAS to be prepared in
the event a transition begins in Cuba. Before, the Bush administration
was reluctant to allow the OAS to get involved, partly because Cuba is
not a democracy and partly because the OAS was seen as hostile to U.S.
positions on the island.
DIALOGUE WITH CUBA
OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza has long insisted some kind of
dialogue should take place between the organization and Cuba.
He told The Miami Herald on Tuesday he would seek to clarify what the
U.S. position is on the OAS role. He said the United States previously
insisted any dialogue with the Cubans also needed to involve dissidents.
Havana's policy is to break off any contacts with nations that deal with
Castro opponents.
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