Ill. Gov. Makes Landmark Cuba Visit

By James Anderson
Associated Press Writer
Saturday, Oct. 23, 1999; 6:12 p.m. EDT

HAVANA –– Illinois Gov. George Ryan on Saturday paid the first visit to communist Cuba by a U.S. governor since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, declaring he had "come here to build bridges between people."

Cuba welcomed the visit as a sign of eroding support in the United States for the U.S. embargo. In a sign of the importance Cuba attached to the visit, Ryan – himself an embargo opponent – was met at Havana's international airport by Ricardo Alarcon, president of the Cuban National Assembly.

"Only history will reveal if this mission will begin to make a difference in the lives of the people of Cuba and the lives of the people of Illinois," the Republican governor declared. "The probability that we may fail ought not deter us in support of a cause we believe to be just."

Alarcon said he hoped the visit would have an "everlasting effect" on Cuba-U.S. relations and told Ryan that with a warm Cuban welcome, "you will discover that you are back in Springfield," the capital of Illinois.

"Cuba will receive always with open arms all those who come here inspired with the natural sentiment of respect and seeking to promote cooperation," Alarcon said. "You came, sir, from the land of Abraham Lincoln to the land of (Cuban independence hero) Jose Marti, who taught us to respect and admire the greatest son of Illinois."

Ryan was leading a 45-member delegation of state, business, religious and university leaders on a five-day visit to the island. He planned to present more than $1 million worth of donated humanitarian supplies.

"We trust that this humanitarian gesture shows that the people of Illinois care about the people of your country," he said.

The trip was in line with a Clinton administration policy, unveiled earlier this year, of encouraging direct contacts between the United States and the Cuban people. Ryan's ambitious agenda started with a private meeting and dinner with Alarcon.

Highlighting the schedule were a Sunday Mass at Havana's Cathedral; meetings with high-ranking Cuban officials and Cuban dissidents; visits to medical centers, schools, farms, churches, museums; and a speech at the University of Havana. It wasn't known if Ryan would meet with President Fidel Castro.

Cuba's Foreign Ministry welcomed the visit as "a reflection of the growing rejection by different sectors of United States society towards the current hostile policy and embargo against Cuba." The Communist Party newspaper, Granma, ran a brief biography of Ryan on its front page Saturday.

Anti-Castro groups in the United States denounced the trip, saying Ryan was lending credibility to Castro and a government responsible for rights abuses.

At a time when commodities prices are at record lows, some U.S. lawmakers have taken another look at easing the embargo, first adopted in 1962, or eliminating it altogether. Ryan favors ending it, though he has said that U.S. policy toward Cuba is not the focus of his trip.

This week, the U.S. Senate was scheduled to vote on legislation that would require Congress' approval for the president to use food and medicine as part of an embargo.

Ryan initially had described the trip as a trade mission but more recently called it a "humanitarian" mission because of the trade ban.

Still, U.S. agribusiness, pharmaceuticals and medical firms sent representatives, including food manufacturer Archer Daniels Midland Corp., the John Deere Foundation, affiliated with tractor maker Deere and Co., and Baxter International.

Elizardo Sanchez, a prominent Cuban dissident, welcomed Ryan's visit, saying it was in "the greater interests of the U.S. and Cuban peoples" by promoting "better relations between both countries." Sanchez heads the Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation.