No War On Cuba!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DECEMBER 19, 2003
PDF Version of this Fact Sheet

 
For More Information Contact:
Olivia Burlingame – (202) 271-1126
www.NoWarOnCuba.org

NWC FACT SHEET ON CAFC

US plans regime change for Cuba!

On December 8, 2003 the White House issued a statement revealing its clear intent to impose a regime change in Cuba accompanied by a fundamental overhaul of Cuban society overseen by its recently formed “Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba” (CAFC). While the CAFC statement was more propaganda than “fact," it is CAFC's stated charge to develop a plan, by May 2004, to “hasten Cuba’s peaceful transition to a representative democracy and a free market economy.” Given the US’ aggression against the people and government of Cuba over the last forty years and its consistently bellicose conduct of foreign affairs, No War on Cuba along with many others has every reason to believe that the US intends a military invasion of Cuba to effectuate this “transition.”

For decades, the US government has orchestrated covert and overt terrorist attacks against Cuba, maintained a relentless genocidal blockade causing the Cuban people great suffering, and funneled millions of dollars to fund opposition to the Cuban government (please see Fact Sheets on US Operations Against Cuba on the NWC web site http://www.nowaroncuba.org/Background.htm)

Such US actions against Cuba are immoral and represent a repeated and continuing violation of international law.

To fully understand this extraordinary effort by the US to destroy the society the people of Cuba have built, it is important to look at the racist foreign policy the US government pursued in the 1898 Spanish American war in order to “acquire” the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam and Cuba. Ever since, the US has supported one ruthless, incompetent Cuban head of state after another, up to and including President Fulgencio Batista who was overthrown by the Cuban people in 1959. The well known corruption orchestrated by the US through their puppet Batista brought wealth to the Cuban elite and US corporations and unabated poverty and massive illiteracy to the majority of the Cuban people. With Batista no longer in power, the US and the Cuban elite lost their playland and are still determined to get it back – one way or another. One can't ignore that during forty years of US aggression, the people of Cuba joined together massively and successfully to defend their country against every military action and invasion attempted by the US and the Cuban exile elite who persist in trying to regain their privileged existence.

The US’ efforts to de-stabilize the Cuban government began in 1959, less than a year after the revolution and before the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, with numerous failed assassination attempts on Fidel Castro and the Cuban leadership and other acts of sabotage, plotted and carried out through CIA financed Cuban exiles. Now, rather than the CIA distributing millions of dollars to assassinate Castro and to terrorize Cuba, the mantle has been passed to a new paymaster -- the U S AID. Ostensibly, the USAID camouflages the identity of the recipient organizations, many of which are “fronts” for militant Cuban exiles. Presumably, passing the money through the US AID helps to give these organizations a kinder and gentler image. The USAID web site (http://www.usaid.gov/regions/lac/cu) reports that, in 2002, approximately $14 million dollars was distributed by the USAID to “increase flow of information on democracy, human rights and free enterprise, to, from, and within Cuba.” The US Congress recently increased this amount to over $21 million. This US’ war of aggression against Cuba continues to confound the rest of the world. In repeated sessions, the UN General Assembly has voted nearly unanimously (with the exception of the US, Israel, and the Mariana Islands) against the US’ baseless, propaganda driven resolutions to condemn Cuba. It is clear that the US is virtually alone when it comes to its policy towards Cuba.

Perhaps the most ironic aspect of CAFC's charge is to bring “representative democracy” to Cuba and pair it with a “free market economy” as a remedy for the Cuban people. How tragically familiar this sounds. All US regime change scenarios begin with a promise of democracy. One need look no further than Iraq where Halliburton and the US military reign supremely while the Iraqi people live under a vicious occupation.

According to the press statement, CAFC is to cook up a plan by May 1, 2004 to “create the core institutions of a free economy, modernize infrastructure and meet the basic needs in the areas of health, education, housing and human services.” Nineteen Federal agencies – including the EPA and HUD – have been recruited for this massive effort as described in the CAFC fact sheet. If the US truly seeks democracy, how dare CAFC conduct wholesale planning for Cuba’s future, in Washington, DC, ignoring the majority of the people of Cuba as represented by their elected leadership? With nineteen federal agencies involved in this project, a special concern is the numerous funding sources that CAFC has at their disposal, making the money trail virtually untraceable.

This plan would make a mockery of the UN World Health Organization and other agencies which have recognized the very high quality of Cuba’s public health and education systems. Cuba’s public education system is acknowledged as being one of the best in Latin America and the world. Education, through university, and health care are totally free in Cuba, and their quality surpasses that of public systems throughout the US, including those of Washington, DC, the nation's capital. Housing in Cuba is very inexpensive. Cuba has numerous organizations operating at the grass roots level and from block-to-block to ensure that human services are available and provided. Surely, the US administration, with its failure to fund its own proclaimed public education program, "Leave No Child Behind", would not dare to think that it could develop a program for Cuba to meet basic needs in education. Surely the closure of numerous public hospitals and clinics throughout the US is not a model of meeting basic needs in health care to impose on Cuba!

No War on Cuba considers the creation of CAFC to be yet another attempt by the Bush administration to curry favor with the anti-Castro Cubans in the US and divert US public attention as we approach the 2004 presidential election. Yet, since CAFC is well financed and appears to have a mandate tantamount to the invasion, occupation, and re-building of Iraq, NWC will monitor its activities closely and provide additional fact sheet updates in the future.

NWC Press Release 12-15-2003

 

Here are some US Government sources on CAFC:
October 10 White House Press Release on CAFC
White House Press Release on CAFC and other actions against Cuba (missing, was release 20031010-7.html)
Same information on CAFC
Old:
US Laws Restricting Travel and Trade to Cuba

(A later Report to the President - PDF of full May 2004 report, outlines the public policy that CAFC called for. Reportedly, there are secret parts that have not been released.) May 2004 report on our web site (PDF).

A liberal criticism of CAFC:
An Open Letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell Regarding the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba 9-2004 (PDF).

Annalysis of CAFC by the Cuba Study Group ofSanta Cruz County

PDF Version of this Fact Sheet