By Serge F. Kovaleski
                  Washington Post Foreign Service
                  Tuesday, February 23, 1999; Page A13

                  HAVANA, Feb. 22—President Fidel Castro has escalated his political
                  attacks on the United States and anti-government dissidents to a level not
                  seen here since Cuba shot down two civilian planes piloted by
                  Miami-based anti-Castro activists three years ago.

                  Cuba's aging leader contends that the Clinton administration's decision last
                  month to ease the U.S. economic embargo against this Communist country
                  is a ploy aimed at continuing efforts to undermine his 40-year grip on
                  power.

                  Reviving the ideologically charged rhetoric of the Cold War, Castro
                  recently convened a special session of the National Assembly to consider
                  harsh new penalties for dissidents, especially those seen as sympathetic to
                  U.S. Cuban policies. The assembly's unanimous approval of the measures
                  earlier this month has sparked concern among foreign diplomats and
                  human rights workers that Castro may be ushering in an era of greater
                  repression in this Caribbean island nation of 11 million people.

                  Already, some Americans visiting Cuba -- some in violation of U.S. law,
                  some with special permission from the State Department -- say that
                  Cubans have been reluctant to meet with them. Some independent Cuban
                  journalists, however, have continued to risk the wrath of officials here by
                  speaking on the U.S. government's Radio Marti, which is opposed to
                  Castro's rule.

                  Several top Communist Party officials have attacked the United States for
                  refusing to lift completely the economic sanctions it imposed on Cuba 38
                  years ago. The official party newspaper, Granma, has carried front-page
                  stories decrying Washington's policies, saying in one article that the laws
                  recently passed here are "a matter of refusing to allow the U.S. government
                  to carry out its death sentence on the Cuban revolution."

                  A billboard poster that was hung recently at a busy intersection here shows
                  several hands brandishing swords, accompanied by the words: "The Same
                  People. The Same Cause. Renewal of the War of Independence."

                  Meanwhile, Cuba has said that the bulk of its telephone links with the
                  United States will be cut at midnight Wednesday if it does not receive
                  overdue U.S. telephone service payments. Several U.S. phone companies
                  are withholding the payments, awaiting the outcome of a Florida court case
                  involving efforts to seize Cuban assets in the United States by the relatives
                  of four Cuban American pilots from an anti-Castro group who were killed
                  when their small planes were shot down by Cuban aircraft north of Havana
                  in 1996.

                  The latest anti-American backlash began Jan. 5, when President Clinton
                  announced that he would further relax restrictions on U.S. trade and
                  commerce in Cuba under a policy that aims to encourage activities by
                  Cuban charities affiliated with nongovernmental organizations while
                  circumventing the Cuban government.

                  The measures would include increasing the number of direct charter flights
                  to the island, resumption of direct mail service, authorization for any U.S.
                  citizen to send up to $1,200 a year to recipients in Cuba -- a right now
                  reserved for relatives -- and permission for U.S. firms to sell food, fertilizer
                  and agricultural equipment to independent farmers and privately owned
                  restaurants.

                  Although many Cubans have welcomed Clinton's gesture, Castro was
                  infuriated, calling it a "fraud" that does nothing to ease the sanctions while
                  enhancing U.S. ability to exert influence within Cuba. "They have sought to
                  deceive the world, saying they relaxed the blockade. Incredible! . . . What
                  they have done is strengthen the blockade," Castro said in a speech earlier
                  this month.

                  Last month, the state-run newspaper Trabajadores said that the embargo
                  cost the island $800 million in 1998 and more than $60 billion since
                  Castro's takeover in 1959 as a consequence of extra shipping costs,
                  tougher credit conditions, higher import prices and lower export revenues,
                  among other things.

                  Cuban officials characterized the easing of the blockade as a public
                  relations stunt intended to soothe opposition to the sanctions within the
                  international community and U.S. foreign policy circles. They also said they
                  were dismayed that in approving the new steps, Clinton had rejected a
                  proposal from two dozen senators of both parties to establish a
                  commission to review all aspects of U.S. policy toward Cuba, including the
                  embargo.

                  The Cuban government has not suggested it will reject the steps proposed
                  by Clinton, but has said it will study the particulars before making any
                  decisions. Cuban officials said, however, that they are wary of allowing
                  more Americans to send money to Cuba because it could enable
                  anti-Castro Cuban Americans in Miami to increase their support of efforts
                  to undermine the regime.

                  U.S. officials defended the latest easing, the second such move by the
                  Clinton administration in less than a year, as a humanitarian decision
                  designed to help the people of this impoverished nation, which daily faces
                  food and other shortages. "Most people would consider the measures a
                  nice gesture, not something awful," a senior State Department official said.
                  "It is super retro to think that the United States is trying to create
                  independent spheres in Cuba to overthrow the government. We are trying
                  to build a civil society to pave the way for an orderly transition" in a
                  post-Castro Cuba.

                  The official said that the Clinton administration decided against the special
                  bipartisan commission because it would have been a very time-consuming
                  endeavor, adding that adopting the current steps was viewed as more
                  productive.

                  Observers noted that not since Congress tightened the embargo in 1996 in
                  response to the downing of the two planes has the Castro government
                  voiced such contempt for the United States and undertaken such drastic
                  political action. "I think the Cuban government has reacted so forcefully
                  because it does not want to normalize relations with the United States,"
                  said Oscar Espinosa, a member of the Cuban Commission for Human
                  Rights and National Reconciliation. "For the government, the embargo is
                  the grand excuse for everything that is wrong with Cuba."

                  The crackdown on U.S.-inspired political opposition -- as sanctioned by
                  the new Law for the Protection of Cuba's National Independence and
                  Economy -- comes amid a general toughening of laws aimed at curbing a
                  recent rise in crime. The law includes provisions targeting the possession or
                  dissemination of "subversive" literature produced by the U.S. government,
                  as well as relations with radio or TV stations or written publications that
                  seek to assist U.S. attempts to damage or undermine Cuba's economy or
                  society.

                  Labeling the law "a new instrument of repression," five independent Cuban
                  journalists' groups over the weekend put a letter on the Internet in which
                  they called "for the backing of all democratic institutions who support
                  freedom of expression so we can continue to exercise the right to inform
                  and receive information."

                  In the meantime, Josefina Veldes, 60, a retiree here, said that while she
                  wants the embargo lifted, she also welcomes the latest easing of sanctions,
                  no matter how limited it may be. "After living with this for almost 40 years,
                  it is better than nothing," she said. "I just hope that one day, the United
                  States realizes that we are all humans."

                  U.S. vs. Cuba

                  Cuban President Fidel Castro, in power for four decades, has outlasted
                  nine U.S. presidents. Here are some key events in U.S. relations with
                  Cuba since the 1959 revolution:1959: Fidel Castro's guerrillas take power
                  from the government of Fulgencio Batista. Exodus of Cubans to Miami
                  begins.

                  1960: Castro establishes diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union, then with
                  China and expropriates American-owned interests.

                  1961: U.S. responds by severing diplomatic relations, imposing trade
                  embargo and supporting an ill-fated invasion by anti-Castro Cuban exiles,
                  known as the Bay of Pigs invasion.

                  1962: World on brink of nuclear war when U.S. discovers that Soviets
                  have installed medium-range missiles in Cuba, but Soviets back down.

                  1975: Cuban troops sent to fight on side of Marxist government in Angola.

                  1980: 120,000 Cubans, including many hard-core criminals, depart Cuba
                  for the U.S. in what becomes known as the "Mariel boat lift." Many end up
                  in U.S. internment camps.

                  1991: Soviet Union collapses, Soviet personnel leave Cuba, and subsidies
                  end, plunging the island into economic crisis.

                  1992: President Bush signs the Cuban Democracy Act, known as the
                  "Torricelli law," which tightens up U.S. embargo by making it illegal for
                  overseas subsidiaries of American firms to trade with Cuba.

                  1993: U.S. dollar becomes legal again in Cuba.

                  1994: Castro says he no longer will stop Cubans from leaving; 13,000 do
                  so. Accord negotiated same year on safe and orderly departure.

                  1995: Cuba approves direct foreign investment.

                  1996: On Feb. 24, Cuban planes shoot down two small aircraft flown by
                  Miami-based exile group over international waters.

                  On March 12, President Clinton signs into law the Helms-Burton Act,
                  which mandates sanctions against foreign companies doing business in
                  Cuba.

                  1998: In January, Pope John Paul II visits, calls for more religious and
                  personal freedoms and criticizes U.S. sanctions.

                  May: Clinton lifts portions of economic sanctions, including humanitarian
                  aid. Relatives allowed to remit American dollars to Cubans.

                  July: Limited direct flights from Miami to Havana resume.

                  SOURCES: Political Handbook, news services
 

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