Nevada’s senators offer Cuba plans

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, May 21, 2003 | 8:42 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Sens. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Harry Reid, D-Nev., Tuesday unveiled separate efforts aimed at establishing democracy in Cuba.

Reid introduced a resolution calling on the State Department and the Organization of American States to gather a tribunal that would have jurisdiction to try Fidel Castro and other Cuban leaders who have committed "crimes against humanity," Reid said.

Reid put Castro in the same category as Saddam Hussein as a leader who terrorized his citizens.

"They have willingly chosen to torture and kill their people, and it is time to hold them accountable for that decision," Reid said in remarks prepared for a Senate floor speech.

Meanwhile Ensign in Miami unveiled a bill that expresses support for active dissident pro-democracy groups in Cuba. The legislation would launch an international group to facilitate planning for a democratic government.

The bill authorizes funding to help nongovernmental groups in Cuba prepare for a peaceful government transition. The legislation specifically authorizes up to $15 million for democracy-building, including helping political prisoners, aiding in workers' rights projects, helping independent journalists, youth groups and environmental groups, and improving Internet access.

Reid and Ensign introduced the measures as several groups in Cuba are actively pushing for democracy. Castro in recent weeks has jailed about 75 dissidents in the toughest crackdown in years.

"We need to send a signal to all the dissidents and political prisoners in Cuba that we have no illusions about the nature of Fidel Castro's regime -- that we know of their plight and stand ready to help them," Ensign said in prepared remarks for a speech Tuesday in Miami to the Cuban-American National Foundation. Ensign was invited to speak in Miami by foundation leader Jorge Mas Santos, whom he knows through past efforts to spur pro-democracy efforts, Ensign spokesman Jack Finn said.

Tuesday was the 101st anniversary of Cuban Independence Day, when the nation was established as an independent republic.

"The sad truth is that the Cuban people still are not free," Reid said. "Castro's regime is an insult to the legacy of the Cuban independence movement. As long as he continues to stifle the will of the Cuban people by denying them basic human liberties, any celebration of Cuban independence will ring hollow."