MIAMI, Aug. 27 -- President Bush accused Sen. John F. Kerry in South Florida on Friday of abetting Fidel Castro's repression of Cuban dissidents, an incendiary charge in a state where White House strategists once were confident of victory but are now worried.
Bush, appearing for the third time in three weeks where 537 votes decided the last election, charged that Kerry had once "even criticized some of the dissidents" and "said their efforts to promote democracy were counterproductive."
Bush did not mention that Kerry had also said, in that interview, that he does not want to hurt the dissidents. As boos filled the partly empty Miami Arena, Bush added, "And he said they had brought down the hammer on themselves."
"I believe -- and strongly believe -- the people of Cuba should be free from the tyrant," Bush said, sprinkling his remarks with Spanish. "My opponent has a different approach."
In a new attack at a time when polls show him losing support among Cuban Americans, Bush mocked Kerry for voting in favor of two versions of the Helms-Burton act of 1996, which tightened sanctions against Cuba, and then opposing the measure on final passage.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39959-2004Aug27.html