The Miami Herald
July 13, 2001

Bush to announce tougher line on Cuba

 By KEN GUGGENHEIM
 Associated Press Writer

 WASHINGTON -- (AP) -- Just days before he must make a difficult choice on Cuba policy, President George W. Bush is looking to boost his credentials with
 Cuban-Americans by pushing a tough line against President Fidel Castro's government.

 Bush will promise new efforts to overcome the jamming of U.S. television and radio broadcasts to Cuba, stricter enforcement of the U.S. trade embargo of Cuba and greater support for internal dissidents, congressional sources said Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

 National security adviser Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that Bush wants to do something to make it possible for the Cuban people to express themselves, including actions regarding Radio and TV Marti.

 The announcement was expected Friday, the seventh anniversary of the deaths of 41 refugees whose boat, Castro's critics say, was sunk by Cuban gunboats on July 13, 1994. Castro says it was an accident.

 It also comes four days before Bush must decide whether to suspend a key part of the 1996 Helms-Burton law. That provision allows any American whose property was seized in Cuba after Castro took power in 1959 to sue anyone -- regardless of nationality -- who uses the property.

 The law allows the president to waive the lawsuit provision, known as Title III, for six-month intervals. Former President Bill Clinton repeatedly exercised the waiver, arguing a suspension would encourage international cooperation in promoting democratic changes on the communist-led island.

 Bush must decide by Tuesday whether he will let Title III take effect. If he does, European nations could react angrily because many of their companies could be sued.

 But if Bush suspends Title III, he risks alienating Cuban-American voters, whose support helped him narrowly win the pivotal state of Florida in the 2000 presidential election. His younger brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, also needs their votes when he runs for re-election next year.

 Many analysts and activists believe the president will suspend Title III for another six months. Cuban-American leaders have said they hope that any further suspension would be offset by new anti-Castro measures.

 Bush's announcement Friday would largely echo what he told Cuban-American leaders May 18 at the White House during a commemoration of Cuban Independence Day. He offered support then for a Senate proposal to provide dissidents with cash, fax machines, telephones and other items to aid them in promoting democracy in Cuba.

 He also proposed more spending to overcome jamming by Radio and TV Marti. The jamming blocks much of the radio signal and virtually all television signals.

                                    © 2001