Castro: U.S. support for embargo waning

The Cuban leader, who met with the Congressional Black Caucus, says he finds hope in recent moves to lift restrictions.

©Associated Press

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 5, 2000

HAVANA -- Support for the 38-year-old trade embargo against Cuba is beginning to wear down as American businesses seek new markets, Fidel Castro said Sunday.

In a meeting with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Castro also suggested Cuba could extend a free medical training program to poor American students who would return home to practice in poor regions.

He also voiced support for the work of black members of Congress but said he is disenchanted with elected politics in general and American presidential politics in particular.

Castro, 73, who has ruled his island nation for 41 years, said he finds hope in recent congressional moves to lift restrictions on U.S. sales of food and medicine to Cuba.

The House is expected to debate an agricultural bill this week to license food and medicine sales to Cuba as long as the sales are not subsidized by the federal government.

The caucus, 36 voting black House members, long has supported lifting the trade sanctions. In recent months, some Republicans and business groups have joined them in seeking to open new markets. The vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce visited last week.

"It's interesting that some people on the other side of the aisle are looking at ending the blockade," Castro told the lawmakers through an interpreter. "I find that very significant. I suppose that sometimes some issues wear down. It is a positive."

On the 2000 presidential campaign, Castro said: "I really disagree with both candidates for president." Then he joked: "I'm going to be among the 50 percent of Americans who will go fishing on Election Day."

The medical training offer came after Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said parts of his Mississippi Delta district have so few medical personnel and facilities that its infant mortality rate is second in the United States, behind Washington, D.C.

Castro already had told the representatives about Cuba's program of sending doctors to poor areas around the Caribbean and in Africa. He suggested a new project to provide free medical training to 10 to 12 American students.

"It would be hard for your government to oppose such a program," Castro said. "It would be a trial for them. Morally, how could they refuse?"

Thompson said he likes the idea and will study it.

Speaking extemporaneously on a wide range of subjects, Castro expressed gratitude to the black caucus for supporting the return to Cuba of 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez.

"We are aware the Congressional Black Caucus has shown great interest in Elian's case. His grandmothers said they were impressed with the attention they were given by the CBC during their visit to the United States," Castro said. "We wish to have more contacts with the Congressional Black Caucus on other issues."

Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., chairman of the black caucus, invited a Cuban delegation, including Castro, to attend the caucus' annual legislative conference in September in Washington.

Castro said he doubts he could get a visa, but Clyburn said he would try to get an exemption under a cultural exchange provision in international travel law.

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