Cardinal criticises Obama over Cuba

BY STAFF REPORTER
A CUBAN cardinal of Havana has criticised US President Barack Obama for refusing to soften his stance on Cuba and start a dialogue with its government.
Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino said that economic woes and accusations of human rights abuses had thrust Cuba into “a difficult situation, the most difficult we have experienced in the 21st century”.
He said a dialogue between the US and Cuba would be “a necessary first step toward breaking the vicious circle in which we find ourselves”. He made the comments in an interview with the Archdiocese of Havana’s magazine, Palabra Nueva (“New Word”).
Cardinal Ortega said that while many people had proposed solutions for his country’s social and economic problems “a key common denominator is that Cuba must quickly make the changes needed to improve the situation”.
“I think there is national consensus on that, and delaying it creates impatience and ill will among people,” he said. The cardinal said the international economic crisis, US trade embargo and effects of three hurricanes “come on top of Cuba’s perennial economic difficulties, which stem from the constraints of the type of socialism practised here and result in an often gloomy outlook”.
He expressed disappointment over the Obama administration’s relations with the government of Cuban President Raúl Castro, who took over as president in 2006, when his brother, Fidel Castro, stepped aside because of illness. Raúl Castro was officially elected president in 2008.
The cardinal said that when Raúl Castro took office he proposed unconditional dialogue with the United States with no topics off limits. During his presidential campaign Mr Obama also “indicated he would change the style [of relations with Cuba] and would seek to talk directly with Cuba”, he said.
“After taking office, however, the new US president has repeated the old model of previous governments: if Cuba makes changes with regard to human rights, the United States could lift the blockade and open up possibilities for subsequent dialogue.” In Washington a spokesman for the US bishops said the cardinal’s remarks reflect the Church’s longstanding position that the US embargo of Cuba is morally unjustifiable. He said the Obama administration’s pace toward changing the situation looks like “business as usual”.
Human rights in Cuba made headlines around the world with the death of dissident prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo in February after a nearly three-month hunger strike. Another dissident hunger striker, Guillermo Fari nas Hernandez, was hospitalised in March.
The cardinal called for dialogue and urged the government to “take appropriate measures” to avoid more deaths like Zapata’s, but also said Mr Farinas should give up his hunger strike. In an interview with the French news agency Agence FrancePresse Mr Farinas said he would continue his protest, which had lasted 60 days.
He said: “We accept the words of Cardinal Jaime Ortega and his bishops with respect... but I am strong and am continuing my hunger strike.” Mr Farinas, an opposition journalist, is demanding the release of 26 political prisoners who suffer from health problems. Although the Cuban government does not recognise the existence of political prisoners, Cuban dissidents say there are about 200 jailed opponents of the regime.
Cardinal Ortega, referring to Zapata, said: “The tragic death of a prisoner because of a hunger strike has led to a verbal war in the media in the United States, Spain and other countries.
“This media campaign further exacerbates the crisis. It is a form of media violence to which the Cuban government responds in its own way,” he said. The “Ladies in White”, mothers and wives of some of the dissident prisoners, have been harassed by government supporters during recent demonstrations calling for the prisoners’ release. Cardinal Ortega spoke out against the harassment, saying that after the 1980 Mariel boat lift – a mass exodus of Cubans from the island’s Mariel harbour – the government pledged to stop verbal and physical attacks on opponents.
He said: “We have seen with surprise that these actions have resumed here and also among Cubans in southern Florida.”