Tension heightens, calls for action increase since recent Castro actions

By ALFREDO CORCHADO / The Dallas Morning News

Secretary of State Colin Powell criticized Cuba on Sunday as an "anachronism in our hemisphere" and "irrelevant to the world stage," the strongest indication yet of
escalating tensions between the Bush administration and its longtime nemesis.

In response to a question during his appearance on NBC's Meet The Press, Mr. Powell stopped short of advocating "regime change" in Cuba through military force,
as was the case of Iraq.

"We do not believe that it is appropriate at this time ... to use military force for this particular purpose," he said.

In recent weeks, a growing number of longtime advocates of greater engagement with Cuba have voiced dismay at President Fidel Castro's actions, including jailing
about 75 government critics and human rights advocates and executing three men who hijacked a ferry to try to reach the United States.

The Bush administration is expected to announce as early as this week its Cuba policy review. President Bush is scheduled to make a speech May 20 in Florida
about Cuba and to meet with key Cuban exiles.

"All options are on the table," a State Department official said on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, Cuba and its friends, among them singer Harry Belafonte, have countered by criticizing the United States, alleging that the U.S. is provoking the latest
tensions with the purpose of setting the stage for possible U.S. military intervention. They blame James C. Cason, the chief of the American diplomatic mission in
Havana, for meddling in Cuba's internal affairs and stirring up anti-government protests.

Mr. Powell called those charges "utterly ridiculous."

As Latin American nations move toward market reforms and tweak newly installed democracies, Cuba, Mr. Powell said, "sits there isolated ... more irrelevant on
the world stage, and sooner, rather than later, this regime will pass. It is an anachronism, and history will catch up to it."

Yet, while the United States had warned other countries – including Iran, North Korea and Cuba – against supporting terrorism, their situations differ from that of
Iraq, Mr. Powell said.

"I believe Iraq was a more real and present danger in terms of weapons of mass destruction," he said.

But he suggested that military force would remain an option in the fight against terrorism.

"We did it in Afghanistan. We did it in Iraq," he said. "We're confronting other nations around the world and there are ways to confront them, many different ways to
confront them."

Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Libya, Syria, Sudan and Cuba remain on the State Department's annual list of countries it says sponsor terrorism. The latest list was
released last week.

One determining factor of future policy on Cuba will be Mr. Bush's new nominee to lead Latin American policy, Roger Noriega. Appointed to be assistant secretary
for Western Hemispheric Affairs, Mr. Noriega is likely to be confirmed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Mr. Noriega did not express his views on the issue of strengthening economic ties with Cuba during his confirmation hearing last week. But he did say he supported
legal exchanges of people, not as tourists, but to further education, science, culture and religion.

"That sort of engagement I think is absolutely essential," Mr. Noriega said.

Staff writer Katie Warchut in Washington contributed to this report.

E-mail acorchado@dallasnews.com