5 May 2004
TERRORISM: Only Cuba on blacklist
CUBA: Poll shows Cuban Americans disagree
DRUGS: Cali cartel leaders ready for extradition, families say
DEATH ROW: Mexico steps up pressure on US
GUATEMALA: Berger fobbed off with promises
MEXICO & PERU: US supports decision on Cuba
BRAZIL: US accuses Brazil of piracy
TERRORISM
Cuba is the only country in the hemisphere to appear on the blacklist, published
by the US State Department, on 29 April. The blacklist is composed of those
countries that the US believes sponsor terrorism. The other countries on the
list are Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria. The US praised Uruguay,
Paraguay and Brazil for the action they have taken to deal with what the US
calls supposed terrorists. The US accused Cuba of sheltering and supporting
terrorist groups, dozens of terrorist suspects and fugitives from US justice.
In particular the US accuses Cuba of sheltering members of the Basque separatist
group, ETA, and members of two Colombia guerrilla groups, the Farc and the ELN.
The State Department also concluded that the threat from local terrorists in
Colombia and to a lesser extent Peru remained high. The State Department had
some odd things to say about Venezuela. It accused the government there of incoherent
support in the war against terrorism and accused the government of President
Hugo Chávez of sympathising with the both the Farc's and the ELN's [Marxist]
ideology. The coordinator of the war against terrorism at the State Department,
Cofer Black, said that the support from the US allies had meant that the number
of terrorist attacks in 2003 was the lowest since 1969.
CUBA
The majority of Cubans exiled in Florida are in favour of negotiating with President
Fidel Castro's government and the regime's opponents on the island. The poll,
of 1,800 people, taken by Centro de Investigaciones Cubanas at the Florida International
University, found that 58% of those polled wanted talks. On the other hand,
44% did not want any dealings with the regime. The overwhelming majority of
exiles (74%) believed that the trade embargo on the island has not worked. Even
so 67% believe that the embargo should be continued. More confusingly 69% believe
that US companies should sell medicine to the island and 59% believe that they
should be able to remit money directly to their families on the island. Even
more confusingly, 60% said that they would support military action, either by
the US or by Cuban exiles, against the Castro regime. There are reckoned to
be 2m Cuban exiles in the US: 600,000 have the right to vote in the US. The
US government is currently mulling over its Cuban policy: Otto Reich, a former
special adviser to the White House on Latin America, handed over a report to
President Bush on policy options on 3 May.
DRUGS
Gilberto and Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela, heads of the now-disbanded Cali cartel,
said, according to their children, that they will allow themselves to be extradited
to the US provided their families are left in peace. The brothers were arrested
in 1995 and have been in Colombian jails since. The US application to extradite
them has been before the Colombian supreme court since March. Technically, they
were arrested when extradition to the US was not allowed. Last year a court
in Florida, USA, accused them of carrying on their business while in prison
and of having made US$2bn while in prison.
MEXICO
The president of the senate in Mexico, Enrique Jackson, led a delegation of
senators to visit Osvaldo Torres, the Mexican facing execution in Oklahoma on
18 May. He was found guilty of murdering a couple in 1993. His case is important
because the International Court of Justice in The Hague recently ruled that
the US had broken international law by failing to allow 51 Mexicans, now on
death row, access to Mexican consular services before prosecuting them.
GUATEMALA
The President of Guatemala, Oscar Berger, met President George W Bush on
30 April. Berger said that Bush was amenable to the idea of granting the thousands
of Guatemalans working in the US temporary visas and that he was keen on improving
their rights and status. Berger is also pushing hard for the US congress to
end its ban on arms sales to Guatemala. The ban has been in place since 1979.
Berger said that he did not want to buy arms (indeed he has started to halve
the size of the army) but he does want to be able to buy transport and logistical
equipment.
MEXICO & PERU
Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, praised the decision taken by Mexico
and Peru on 3 May, to withdraw their ambassadors from Havana. President Fidel
Castro had made some disparaging remarks about both countries' foreign policy
in his traditional May Day speech. Mexico's foreign minister said that the remarks,
which attacked Mexico for condemning the human rights situation in Cuba, could
not be ignored. Mexico also expelled the Cuban ambassador.
BRAZIL
The US accused Brazil of allowing piracy: it claimed that US companies had lost
US$785m in 2003 because of Brazil's lack of respect for patents and copyrights.
President Lula da Silva rejected the allegation. On 4 May he said that the US
was just as much a pirate centre as Brazil. Brazil is one of the 52 countries
on the US Department of Commerce's list of countries against whom action on
intellectual property rights may be taken at the World Trade Organization.