Cuba 'chokes' dissident support
http://www.miamiherald.com/457/story/570022.htmlThe Cuban government is putting the squeeze on
dissidents, citing Bush administration rules to keep
them from receiving aid from U.S. groups.
Apparently abusing Bush administration rules that restrict who can send money to the island, the Cuban government is cutting off resources to human rights activists who had been receiving cash from exile groups in Miami.
Dissidents who get money wired to them every month from the Cuban American National Foundation via Western Union say they are now being asked: Is the sender your direct relative?
At least a dozen dissidents could not pick up their money this month and had to try several Western Union locations in Havana before finding one that would release the funds, according to the foundation.
'I went to Western Union, and the woman looked at me and said, `Is this from a brother, sister, parent or child of yours?' If not, I can't give you the money,' '' Berta Soler, whose husband Angel Moya is serving a 20-year prison sentence, said in a telephone interview from Havana. ``I found that strange, because I get money there every month -- and from that same girl at the counter.''
The Bush administration restricted remittances to Cuba in 2004, changing the rules so that Cuban Americans in the United States could send $100 a month only to immediate relatives.
The rules still allow organizations such as CANF to request special licenses from the Treasury Department to send money to dissidents.
It appears that now the Cuban government is using those stricter family rules as a vehicle to cut off the cash supply to the opposition movement.
Many exile organizations support dissidents and the families of prisoners because most of them cannot get work. The money goes for things such as transportation to visit prisoners in far-flung penitentiaries or to pay for office supplies.
`CHOKING US'
''The government is trying to choke us,'' Soler said. ``If it weren't for that money, we would not be able to bring food and milk to our husbands in prison. We are not terrorists trying to topple the government. We spend it in stores in Cuba -- government stores.''
The move comes a month after the Cuban government publicly denounced several high-profile dissidents for receiving cash from a group called the Legal Rescue Foundation, which was founded by a militant Cuban exile activist Santiago Alvarez. The Cuban government accuses Alvarez of funding terrorist activities in Cuba, and used the money he sent to dissidents to portray them as ``mercenaries.''
The Cuban press published e-mails that showed Washington's top diplomat in Havana sometimes served as a courier to carry the funds to the island.
Although the dissidents say the Cuban government is putting up the obstacles, the CANF places the blame squarely on the Bush administration. CANF chairman Jorge Mas Santos sent a letter to President Bush saying the restrictions are stifling the organization's work.
''The 2004 regulations imposed by your administration have crippled the ability of organizations such as ours to help further the cause of Cuban freedom,'' he wrote. ``. . . On many occasions you have invoked the names of dozens of Cuba's political prisoners and dissidents, stating the importance of helping them further their work, yet in practice the policy you have imposed ironically deprives them of the resources to do just that.''
The U.S. State Department referred questions about the matter to the Treasury Department.
Treasury spokesman John Rankin declined to comment on Mas Santos' letter, but noted that the department does have a process in place for people to send money to dissidents.
Western Union declined to comment.
NO COMMENT
''In accordance with the laws of the U.S. Treasury Department, Western Union is licensed to send money from the U.S. to Cuba under limited circumstances through the Office of Foreign Assets Control,'' the company said in a statement. ``Western Union is dedicated to providing a reliable service for U.S. consumers sending money from the U.S. to their families in Cuba, and to more than 200 countries and territories around the world. The issue at hand appears to be between a nongovernmental organization and the U.S. government, and Western Union is not in a position to comment.''
The dissidents said they get about $50 a month from the foundation.
Soler eventually picked up $300, which she shares with five other families of political prisoners.
''It's all very strange and a little arbitrary,'' said dissident Jorge Olivera, who said he was refused his funds at one Western Union location but eventually got his money by going someplace else.
``I view this very suspiciously. They are trying to drive us into a situation of extreme poverty. Prices are very high in Cuba. We have no salaries and need this help.''
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