WASHINGTON -- After a recent trip to Cuba, a bipartisan group of former U.S. lawmakers has roiled the political waters by urging Washington to scrap its decades-old effort to isolate the government of President Fidel Castro.
The eight-member delegation, which traveled under the auspices of the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress, then outlined areas for mutual cooperation between Washington and Havana.
In a report released Friday, it called for resumption of direct flights between Miami and Havana, a U.S.-Cuba program to reduce drug trafficking, more academic exchange programs and U.S. technical assistance in the construction of Cuba's first nuclear power plant.
The chairman of the association, former Florida Rep. Louis Frey Jr., said the 35-year-old economic embargo against Cuba -- and recent measures to tighten it under the Helms-Burton Act -- have done nothing to promote a peaceful transition in Cuba or to diminish Castro's control over society.
``What we're doing isn't working,'' said Frey, an Orlando Republican who ran for the U.S. Senate and Florida governor in the 1980s.
Report criticized
The Cuban American National Foundation immediately criticized the group's report, which was funded by the Ford Foundation, and is being presented to Clinton administration officials in briefings with the former lawmakers.
``This report basically lays out the U.S. terms of surrender to Fidel Castro,'' said CANF Washington Director Jose Cardenas. ``It says, yes, Castro is a dictator and that democracy in Cuba is not likely while he's alive, but rather than persevere in demanding freedom for Cuba we should just accept these facts and unilaterally normalize relations.''
The group's conclusions were remarkable because they included the views of liberal Democrats like former Maryland Rep. Michael Barnes as well as conservative Republicans who support the U.S. trade ban and criticize Havana's human rights record.
``I happen to be a conservative Republican. But I think engagement might be just the right key to unlock this door,'' said former Wisconsin Rep. Toby Roth.
Several of the group's recommendations attempted to breathe new life into the administration's ``Track II'' policy, which was launched in 1992 to try to promote a civil society in Cuba but was largely shelved in February, after Cuba shot down two unarmed U.S. civilian planes.
The former lawmakers largely declined to express a view on the Helms-Burton Act, which codified the U.S. trade ban into law, but said they impressed upon Cuban officials that it would not be repealed in the near future.
No Castro meeting
The former lawmakers did not meet with Castro but held talks with National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon and Justice Minister Robert Diaz Sotolongo, in which they said they emphasized that the static relationship between Washington and Havana would change only if the Castro government addresses the matters of political repression and U.S. property rights.
The group called on Havana to free several hundred prisoners of conscience -- they provided officials with a list of 17 names -- and to invite the International Committee of the Red Cross to inspect Cuban prisons.
It also urged Cuban officials to make a move toward trying to compensate U.S. claimants whose property was confiscated under the Cuban Revolution. There are 5,911 registered U.S. claims outstanding, which are valued at about $6 billion today, and untold thousands of claims by Cubans who have become naturalized U.S. citizens.
Even a gesture might ease tensions, Frey said he told Cuban officials.
``They said they have no money. They're broke,'' he said. ``Our suggestion was it will make a lot of good sense to try to settle.''
Copyright © 1997 The Miami Herald