By Thomas W. Lippman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 8, 1998; Page A10
A bipartisan group of senators, supported by three former secretaries of
state and other prominent former officials, is urging President Clinton
to
undertake a comprehensive review of U.S. policy toward Cuba, which has
stood basically unchanged for nearly four decades.
"More and more Americans from all sectors of our nation are becoming
concerned about the far-reaching effects of our present U.S.-Cuba policy
on United States interests and the Cuban people," the senators said in
a
letter to Clinton. They asked the president to convene a bipartisan national
commission to review all aspects of U.S. policy, including the long-standing
embargo on trade with the Western Hemisphere's only communist country.
The senators and the former officials who endorsed their proposal did not
recommend any particular outcome of the proposed policy review. But the
composition of the group, including conservative Republicans such as Sen.
Rick Santorum (Pa.) and Rod Grams (Minn.), could give Clinton political
cover to undertake a review and perhaps a revision of Cuba policy, sure
to
raise objections from a domestic lobby that opposes any signs that could
be interpreted as an overture to the regime of President Fidel Castro.
The administration has not responded formally to the proposal. "We have
obviously heard about it, but have not yet formulated a response, nor can
I
make any judgment yet whether it's a good idea or not," Secretary of State
Madeleine K. Albright said in an interview. "I think everybody would like
to have a different policy toward Cuba. The problem is Cuban actions."
Albright said she was disappointed that the historic visit to Cuba early
this
year by Pope John Paul II produced few changes on the island, despite
widespread hopes that it might lead to some liberalization. She said Clinton
came to office six years ago hoping to modify the long-standing U.S. policy
of isolating Cuba, but has always been frustrated by Cuban actions, most
notably the fatal 1996 shootdown of two unarmed small planes operated
by a Florida-based Cuban exile group.
Some members of the group seeking a review said the administration may
be ready to respond positively after Tuesday's national elections because
the volatile Cuba issue would no longer be a factor at the polls.
In addition to Grams and Santorum, the senators who have signed the
letter are Republicans John W. Warner (Va.), the chief sponsor of the
move; Chuck Hagel (Neb.), James M. Jeffords (Vt.), Mike Enzi (Wyo.),
John Chafee (R.I.), Gordon Smith (Ore.), Craig Thomas (Wyo.), Richard
C. Lugar (Ind.), Dirk Kempthorne (Idaho), Pat Roberts (Kan.) and
Christopher S. Bond (Mo.). Democratic signers are Bob Kerrey (Neb.),
Barbara Boxer (Calif.), Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.) and Dale Bumpers
(Ark.)
They recommended the appointment of a commission selected from a
bipartisan list of Americans who have experience in international relations,
including human rights groups, business executives and the Cuban
American community, along with eight members of Congress selected by
the congressional leadership.
They envisioned the panel as similar to a commission on U.S. policy in
Central America appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1983, chaired
by former secretary of state Henry A. Kissinger. That group produced a
massive study that called for long-term U.S. commitment to support
economic, political and social reform in the region, then a Cold War proxy
battleground, backed by an $8 billion economic aid program. Legislation
to carry out the recommendations was never enacted because of deep
divisions in Congress over U.S. policy toward El Salvador and Nicaragua.
Kissinger is among the former officials who have endorsed the Cuba
proposal, along with former secretaries of state Lawrence Eagleburger and
George P. Shultz, former Senate majority leader Howard H. Baker Jr.,
former defense secretary Frank Carlucci and former senior state
Department officials William D. Rogers and Harry W. Shlaudeman.
Another signatory is former senator Malcom Wallop (R-Wyo.), whose
participation troubles some members of the group because he has
represented Sherritt International Corp., a Canadian mining conglomerate
whose executives have been barred from visiting the United States
because, according to the U.S. government, their company does business
in Cuba that profits from confiscated American properties.
On behalf of Sherritt, Wallop endorsed earlier, unsuccessful efforts to
soften the U.S. trade embargo. Wallop said he was working on the
commission initiative long before he began representing Sherritt and that
he
has long opposed unilateral trade embargoes generally as ineffective and
counterproductive.
Warner acknowledged Wallop's role in soliciting support for the plan but
said the primary promoters were Eagleburger and Rogers. Warner, who
has been discussing the ramifications of the rigid U.S. view of Cuba for
several years, said he supported the commission idea because "I don't
think it's in the long-term interest of the United States to have almost
on
our borders a nation which has strong feelings against us. It's the
geography; it's too close.
"I honestly believe that with the free flow of tourists, information and
trade,
we'll very soon see those things begin to undermine the Cuban regime,"
Warner said.
The premise that increased contact leads to increased openness underlies
U.S. policy toward China, now one of the United States' major trading
partners and well advanced toward economic, if not political, liberalization.
Opponents of Castro, however, have always resisted a similar opening to
Cuba, arguing that it would only legitimize and enrich the Castro regime.
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