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United States appoints coordinator for overthrow of
the Cuban Revolution
HAVANA—Ricardo Alarcón, president
of the Cuban Parliament, stated that the appointment
of Caleb McCarry as coordinator of the so-called
transition program for Cuba is proof that the United
States is hardening its policy toward the
Revolution.
On July 28, U.S. Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice designated McCarry, a
Republican advisor to the House of Representatives’
International Relations Committee, as coordinator
for that plan drawn up in 2004, which Cuba has
described as annexationist.
“That coordinator has been
designated so that from now on, he will devote
himself to everything that the United States does to
overthrow the Cuban Revolution,” Alarcón said during
a gathering with members of the Pastors for Peace
Friendshipment Caravan.
According to a Reuters report, it
is not known exactly what McCarry’s post entails. He
was previously director of a team of assistants to
the House Sub-Committee for the Western Hemisphere,
a committee on which Congresswoman Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen – part of the extremist Cuban-American
right-wing based in Miami, who supports the
intensification of the economic blockade of the
island – has been very active.
In his speech on July 26, the Day
of National Rebellion, President Fidel Castro said
that the aforementioned transition scheme drafted by
the White House is a “macabre plan.”
The creation of a post for
“transition coordinator” in Cuba was one of the
recommendations to U.S. President George W. Bush by
the so-called Commission for Assistance to a Free
Cuba, created by Bush during his first term.
“ABSURD AND SHAMEFUL,” U.S.
EXPERTS SAY
WASHINGTON—The naming of a
“coordinator for the transition in Cuba” by the Bush
administrations is “absurd, shameful,” and an
affront to Cuba’s national sovereignty, according to
U.S. experts on Latin America.
“This is the most absurd
appointment that I have seen in my life,” Wayne
Smith, of the Center for International Policy, told
DPA in Washington.
For his part, Larry Birns,
president of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs,
said that he is “simply indignant, it’s a shame. It
is so strange, that it is hard for me to believe
that this excess is true.”
Birns said that its is an
“abominable” decision that “will only deepen the
United States’ lack of legitimacy in Latin America.”
“I think that the Latin American
reaction will be an attempt to include Cuba more in
inter-American activities. Latin America is prepared
to challenge Washington. This appointment will hurt
the perspectives Washington had regarding the Free
Trade Area of the Americas,” Birns affirmed.
Smith, for his part, commented,
“The rest of Latin America is going to laugh, more
than anything. But they will also see it as one more
indication that the United States continues to see
Latin America as a protectorate to keep under
control. I think that Latin Americans will see this
as an insult to Latin American sovereignty.”
Regarding the motives of the Bush
administration in creating this post, Birns
commented, “I think that the secretary of state
stays up all night thinking about what she can do
tomorrow that she hasn’t done today to please
Cuban-American voters in Miami.”
However, Smith expressed a
different opinion. “The opinions of voters in
Florida are changing, and the majority of
Cuban-Americans are also offended by this. There is
a small group of hard-line exiles who are happy, and
they are the ones who give the most money to
campaigns.”
ALARCÓN: I WILL MISS
NORIEGA’S STUPIDITIES
HAVANA—Ricardo Alarcón, president
of Cuba’s National Assembly, said that he will miss
the “stupidities” of Roger Noriega, the U.S.
assistant secretary of state, who has announced his
resignation.
“I’m going to miss him a lot, if
he no longer goes in front of the cameras saying the
stupidities he says. Actually, he’s a very funny
guy,” Alarcón said ironically to reporters during
his meeting with Pastors for Peace.
Noriega, known for his hard-line
stance toward Cuba and Venezuela, will leave his
post in September, according to Sean McCormack,
spokesman for the U.S. State Department.
“I’m really sorry about it,
because we’re going to lose a real comic figure.
He’s going to have to be hired for some other
function,” the Cuban leader added. |
