WHY IS CLINTON SO TOLERANT OF CASTRO?


The Clinton Administration has been riddled with scandals from the beginning. For a President who "didn’t inhale," he has his share of high frequency flights. I wonder how he will be remembered in the history books.

This question seems to be motivating the "cigar aficionado" himself to supersede his obvious place in history, "that woman," with one that is rather more reputable.

And Clinton’s loose cigar appears to be pointing in the direction of the Lord of an island that produces the cigars that the US embargo has officially verboten. But beware, Castro, the one and only Lord of Cuba, has publicly complemented, on American television, the "beauty" of Hillary Rodham Clinton, the might-become-Congressperson of New York.

Apparently, Clinton wants to be sure that his spot falls in a history book this time, instead of on a blue dress. And that effort appears to be the justification for all the secret and not so secret low-level talks with the number one enemy of the US in this hemisphere – who on June 5, 1958 wrote, "when this war is over, a much wider and bigger war will begin for me, the war I am going to wage against them (the US)."

Why does Clinton ignore and even cover up Castro’s crimes and constant violations of human rights, spying, involvement with bacteriological warfare (see the article by Roberto Fabricio in El Nuevo Herald, June 20, 1999), training of terrorists, ties to Latin American guerrillas, trafficking of illegal aliens and drugs into the US, etc.?

Is there a Clintonian scheme behind the continuous wavering on Helms-Burton Titles III and IV, to favor our "allies’" business deals with Castro? And the gradual easement of the embargo restrictions, issuance of Treasury Department licenses for travel and sales to the non-existent Cuban non-government organizations. We see the proliferation of bogus people-to-people cultural, sport and scientific exchanges and the increasing visits of unscrupulous US businessmen whose only interest is to participate with Castro in the exploitation of the Cuban worker (and have a vacation at the same time).

Could the Clintonian scheme be to, little by little, prepare the groundwork for the normalization of relations with Castro? Would that override Monica in the history books?

It would explain why the Clinton Administration keeps turning the other way and overlooking what is going on just 90 miles away. It explains last month’s embarrassing statements emanating from the White House drug policy director, retired general and former chief of the US Southern Command Barry McCaffrey, to the effect that Cuba has shown a willingness to help the US fight international drug trade. Yeah right, Cuba is willing to cooperate by denouncing the drug traffickers who refuse to give Castro his cut of their profits.

McCaffrey had the audacity to say, "Poor Cuba. Location puts it in the path of international drug crime. But I do not see any serious evidence, current or in the last decade, of Cuban government overt complicity with drug crime." And he even implied that we should give Cuba the resources to counter the drug traffickers in their own waters.

The Clinton Administration’s McCaffrey conveniently forgot the attack on the tugboat of July 13, 1994, where 41 men, women and children were murdered by Castro’s gunboats. Castro gave medals and promotions to the perpetrators of this criminal action. And he wants to give Castro military equipment to fight "drug trafficking?"

The rosy picture painted by McCaffrey contrasts with the fact that since the 1960s, Castro has been actively involved in the shipment of drugs into the US to destabilize this society and to make much needed US dollars for his subversive activities. The global effort to destabilize the US with drugs was agreed to at Castro’s Tri-Continental Conference of worldwide communists, revolutionaries and terrorists held in Havana in January 1966.

But the Clinton Administration continues to seek anti-drug trafficking cooperation with Castro. On June 21, two State Department and two US Coast Guard low level officials met in Havana with their Cuban counterparts to discuss the possibility of improving telephone communications regarding suspected drug shipments in the Caribbean and the Florida Strait. Give me a break.

In the 1980s, US prosecutors videotaped drug traffickers bragging about how Cuban radar boats steered them around US patrols for easy entry into the US. And in 1988, US prosecutors uncovered a cocaine-smuggling ring that implicated Castro directly. This led to the kangaroo trial that executed a fall guy, General Arnaldo Ochoa.

Florida Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart, said that the Clinton Administration shelved an indictment in 1993 that was prepared by a grand jury in US District Court in South Florida against Castro’s government concerning tons of cocaine that entered the US, despite "massive" evidence pointing to Cuba’s involvement with the drug traffickers.

Perhaps Clinton feared that an expose into Castro’s activities would generate a reaction from Castro that could hamper his ultimate goal for his presidency. Maybe Clinton knows that Castro, an artist in the field of blackmail, is dangerous and capable of doing anything if he feels threatened. The Clinton administration is silently aware of Castro’s biological warfare capability.

In relation to this new William Jefferson Clinton overture, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, also a Florida Representative, expressed her objection to the "preposterous" Clinton Administration meeting and said, "Castro is notorious for helping drug traffickers."

We watched on television on June 29 as Clinton’s orders violated the basic human rights of 6 Cubans in a row boat. It certainly was disturbing to see that unfold this time on US shores. Who knows how many other violations - following Clinton’s orders - the US Coast Guard has committed outside the view of TV cameras. All for a self-serving goal.

So, we have explored some of the possible reasons that could be driving Clinton to be so tolerant of the Maximum Lord of the unfortunate island of Cuba.

His smoky dreams for a final historic cigar on the isle formerly known as the Pearl of the Antilles, is revealing again that he is untruthful and that after all - indeed - he inhaled.


END


Agustín Blázquez with the collaboration of Jaums Sutton
Mr Blázquez is the Producer/Director of the documentary COVERING CUBA
ABIP 1999


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