By DON BOHNING
Herald Staff Writer
President Clinton on Friday suspended for another six months the controversial part of the Helms-Burton law allowing Americans to sue foreigners for ``trafficking'' in confiscated Cuban property, and indicated the suspension may continue indefinitely.
In doing so, he proclaimed ``the international community . . . more united behind the cause of freedom in Cuba than ever before in the 38-year history of [President Fidel] Castro's repressive regime.''
The decision had been expected. The six-month suspension delays such lawsuits until at least Aug. 1. In a statement issued from the U.S. Virgin Islands, where he is vacationing with his family, Clinton indicated the suspension then would likely be continued for another six months.
``I would expect to continue suspending the right to file suit so long as America's friends and allies continue their stepped-up efforts to promote a transition to democracy in Cuba,'' Clinton said.
The provision in question
Under the terms of the suspended provision, Americans with claims on file with the U.S. government would have been able to sue foreign companies for using confiscated property in Cuba. The same provision would also allow Cubans who gained U.S. citizenship after the 1959 Cuban Revolution to file similar lawsuits, though such suits could not be filed before March 12, 1998.
Clinton had first suspended the provision last July, under heavy pressure from European allies and North American Free Trade Agreement partners Mexico and Canada. He later named Undersecretary of Commerce Stuart Eizenstat as his special representative for promoting democracy in Cuba.
Since taking the post in mid-August, Eizenstat has logged some 50,000 miles, cajoling and lobbying presidents, ministers, business and union leaders and nongovernmental representatives from Mexico City to Madrid.
At least one unspoken motive for the suspension was the hope of avoiding a showdown with the European Union over Helms-Burton in the World Trade Organization, which Eizenstat has acknowledged would be a ``lose-lose'' situation.
``I welcome this step as a constructive move . . . a step in the right direction,'' European Commission President Jacques Santer said in Brussels.
`More pressure on Castro'
While conceding that ``no one is under any illusion that democracy is going to break out immediately,'' Eizenstat told reporters Friday in Washington that ``today there is more pressure on Castro than at any time since his coming to power, to initiate real democratic reforms.''
In announcing the suspension, Clinton cited a series of actions by European countries and organizations that reflect ``the strengthened international consensus for change in Cuba.''
Singled out were a December decision by the 15 countries of the European Union linking improvement in their political or economic relations with Cuba to advances in human rights and political freedoms on the island; a call for change -- with Castro present -- by leaders attending November's Ibero-American Summit in Chile; and increased international support for Cuban dissidents.
Positive reaction to the suspension included qualified endorsement from the Cuban American National Foundation, headed by exile leader Jorge Mas Canosa.
``Considering the recent progress of the Clinton administration in working with the European Community to build an international consensus on the need to promote freedom and democracy for the Cuban people, today's suspension . . . is understandable,'' said a Foundation statement.
It added, however, that it is ``imperative'' for the Clinton administration ``to build on the current momentum and take a vocal role in leading the international community to escalate its pressure on the Cuban government . . . ''
Democratic Sens. Bob Graham of Florida and Chris Dodd of Connecticut both hailed the decision.
``The president's announcement punctuates the progress that has been made in the last six months toward the goal of internationalization of the isolation of Castro,'' Graham said.
Dodd said the action was in ``our national interest and in the interest of promoting democratic change in Cuba. Disagreements with our allies and trading partners . . . have only served to bolster Fidel Castro's stature in the international community and harmed international cooperation on a common approach for facilitating democracy in Cuba.''
The most notable voices of dissent were North Carolina's Republican Sen. Jesse Helms, one of the law's co-sponsors, and Florida's two Cuban-American Republican House members, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Lincoln Diaz-Balart.
``I believe he has made a terrible mistake . . . ,'' Helms said. ``There is no question that pressure from the Helms-Burton law has forced our European allies to take a tougher stand against Castro. I see no justification for giving our allies a permanent carte blanche to traffic in stolen American property, as a reward for doing what they should have been doing all along.''
Ros-Lehtinen called it another demonstration of ``the lack of principle of the administration, which signed the Helms-Burton law with the full intention of not implementing the law in its totality.''
Diaz-Balart echoed her sentiments, accusing the Clinton administration of seeking to ``justify the unjustifiable by saying that the action taken recently by Europe conditioning its future aid to Castro requires suspension . . . of Helms-Burton in the U.S.''
Copyright © 1997 The Miami Herald
