Rep. Esteban Torres, D-Calif., unveiled House Bill No. 1951 at a crowded news conference attended by health, aid and church workers, and academics. Lawmakers argued that U.S. restrictions on food and medicine harm the Cuban people and a medical system that was once the envy of Latin America.
``Licensing requirements and outright prohibitions of sales to Cuba have drastically limited Cuban access to U.S.-produced medicines and medical equipment,'' Torres charged. ``According to recent studies . . . the health of women and children, in particular, has suffered because Cubans cannot obtain medicines.''
Under the proposed legislation, Cuba could buy food and medicine from American companies without the need for special Treasury Department certification and supervision by charity organizations.
Pro-embargo lawmakers argued later in the day that Cuban President Castro's policies -- not U.S. sanctions -- are harming Cubans. They added that the legislation was part of an annual rite of seeking to erode the sanctions.
``It's the same old bill every year. They put new clothing on it but it's the same old dog at the prom,'' said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Miami Republican.
Miami Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Republican, accused supporters of the humanitarian aid bill of engaging in a ``disinformation campaign'' designed ``to discredit the U.S. policy of sanctions against the Cuba dictatorship in the eyes of America.''
Along with New Jersey Democratic Rep. Bob Menendez, the Miami lawmakers said they supported the current law -- which requires an independent source to verify the final destination and use of the medicine -- because Castro has used medicine against his political opponents.
Bill sponsors
Torres' office characterized the bill as part of ``a bipartisan campaign to address the negative effects of the U.S. embargo of food and medicine on the people of Cuba.''
Torres referred to a yearlong investigation by the American Association for World Health this year, which concluded that the U.S. embargo ``has dramatically harmed the health and nutrition of large numbers of ordinary Cuban citizens.'' The Washington nonprofit group gets grants from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and other sources.
Cuba has failed to meet basic medical needs since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the association said. ``It is our expert medical opinion that the U.S. embargo has caused a significant rise in suffering -- and even deaths -- in Cuba,'' it said.
Four factors blamed
The State Department in May issued a six-page report defending U.S. policy. It blamed Cuba's current health crisis -- rising elderly mortality rates, spreading waterborne diseases, declining nutrition -- on a corrupt system's misguided priorities, which caters to the elite ahead of the people.
``The sad reality is that the health care available to the average Cuban has deteriorated because the Castro government has made a conscious choice to direct its increasingly scarce resources elsewhere,'' the report said. ``The Cuban government's deliberate policy includes depriving its people of basic medical needs, while actively developing a closed, parallel health care system for the Communist Party elite, foreign `health tourists,' and others who can pay for services in hard currency.''
U.S. report questioned
He cited a Canadian Medical Association study that slammed the State Department report as full of inaccuracies and false assertions.
For example, he said, the State Department report quoted a Pan American Health Organization study as asserting that the Cuban government devotes a smaller percentage of its budget to health care than such regional countries as Jamaica, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.
In fact, Kirkpatrick said, the Pan American Health Organization found that Cuba spends a greater portion of its gross domestic product on health than any other nation in the hemisphere except Canada.
``Here we have an exemplary health care system that is being destroyed by the U.S. government,'' Kirkpatrick said. ``And as a result, innocent Cubans are dying. That's something the U.S. people need to know about.''
Ros-Lehtinen, meantime, blamed Cuba's policies for preventing aid from reaching ordinary citizens. ``If there's no food in Cuba, why is it that tourists have access to world-class restaurants?'' she said. ``If there are no medicines, why is that the Castro regime promotes health tourism worldwide?''
Copyright © 1997 The Miami Herald