Cuba has proposed
sharing information with the United States on terrorism but American
officials are showing no interest, partly because of Cuba's forceful
opposition to the U.S. air strikes in Afghanistan.
During U.S.-Cuban migration talks Monday in Havana, the Cuban side
called for a "terrorism information exchange," but the U.S. delegation
said it was an inappropriate forum for a discussion of the issue, a State
Department official said.
The official noted that the administration had indicated to Cuba earlier
that it did see the communist neighbor as a potential partner in the
anti-terrorism struggle.
President Fidel Castro has expressed horror at the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks, but he adamantly opposes the U.S.-led military campaign
against Taliban rule in Afghanistan and the al-Qaida terrorist group.
On Nov. 13, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said in a speech
at the U.N. General Assembly that "it would seem that this war has
targeted children, the civilian population and the International Red
Cross hospitals and facilities as enemies."
The second ranking U.S. official at the United Nations, James B.
Cunningham, described Perez Roque's observation as "hideous." The
administration has acknowledged that civilian deaths have occurred as
a result of the air campaign but said that maximum efforts have been
made to avoid such casualties.
In his speech, Perez Roque reaffirmed his government's long-standing
position that the island has been a victim of American-inspired terrorism
for 40 years.
"In Cuba there are still relatives of the nearly 3,500 Cubans killed as a
result of aggressions and terrorist acts," he said. "Justice is still
demanded by over 2,000 Cubans rendered disabled by aggressions and
terrorist acts."
Not long after Sept. 11, the United States invited all Latin American
nations, Cuba included, to assist the anti-terror coalition. Cuba
provided documents to the State Department, which officials dismissed
as worthless. Cuban officials were told that the Bush administration
was not interested in receiving additional documents.
Cuba apparently decided to revisit the terrorism issue at the migration
talks because it is the only forum in which the United States and Cuba
hold bilateral talks. The two sides meet every six months or so.
Monday's talks focused on ways to combat the smuggling of Cubans to
U.S. shores by criminal groups.
State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said the U.S. delegation
voiced concern about the "prohibitively high fees" some Cuban migrants
are charged. Others face outright denial of exit visas even though they
have received U.S. visas, he said.
In Havana, Cuban National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon, who
headed the Cuban delegation, restated his government's concern about
a U.S. law that he said encourages risky and illegal migration to the
United States.
