Havana placing bumps in foreign envoys' way

Published Friday, April 4, 1997, in the Miami Herald

Havana placing bumps in foreign envoys' way

By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS
Herald Staff Writer

WASHINGTON -- Outraged by foreigners reaching out to disaffected Cubans, the government of Cuban President Fidel Castro is making life increasingly uncomfortable for envoys from the United States and Europe, diplomats say.

In recent days, Cuban authorities have interfered with a legally protected U.S. diplomatic pouch, clashed with two European envoys whose wives' cars were hit by Cuban state vehicles, and engaged in nasty name-calling with the foreign minister of Spain.

The latest round of aggressive behavior -- atop last year's expulsion of an American human rights officer and the rejection of Spain's choice for its new ambassador -- signals that Cuba is intent on maintaining control even at the expense of its carefully built diplomatic profile.

The crackdown springs in part from Havana's annoyance at Europe's decision to impose human rights conditions on aid, a U.S. report pledging to help rebuild a post-Castro Cuba and growing activism from representatives of new conservative governments in Europe and Latin America, officials and analysts say.

``There has been an increase in the harassment effort by the Cuban government of diplomatic missions in Havana, there's no question of that,'' said Frank Calzon, an exile who watches Cuba for the New York-based human rights group Freedom House.

Felix Wilson, the first secretary of the Cuban mission in Washington, did not respond to a request for comment.

Among the incidents:

In late January or early February, a van carrying Natalie Pribik, the wife of the top Czech diplomat in Havana, was hit by a Cuban police car, Czech sources said. She was briefly hospitalized, then released.

The incident occurred shortly after Petr Pribik, the chief of mission, had met repeatedly with Cuban dissidents. The police officer who hit Mrs. Pribik's car was not carrying a driver's license, and was promptly reported transferred to another province. Within days, the car of another embassy employee was hit by another Cuban state car, the sources said.

Petr Pribik, reached by telephone in Havana, declined to comment. But a well-placed Czech source said the facts were ``fairly indicative that it was not an accident.''

In February, Cuban authorities examined the contents of at least one U.S. diplomatic pouch, which by international convention is supposed to be inviolate. The Cubans claimed that the bag had burst open. U.S. officials denied that.

In all, Havana barred entry to 12 U.S. bags, saying they contained ``subversive'' material. U.S. officials said one pouch contained Spanish- language copies of a Clinton administration plan to help rebuild a post-Castro Cuba, which were intended for distribution in Cuba.

U.S. and European diplomats said the administration plan -- which was mandated under the Helms-Burton law and foresees spending up to $8 billion in a post-Castro Cuba -- has rattled the Cuban leader. Castro has declared the document illegal and demanded loyalty oaths of military officers, they said.

``I was really amazed to see such a strong reaction by Castro,'' one European diplomat said. ``I don't know if he's just getting older or if there was something in the army for him to be worried about. . . . The whole picture is telling me that Fidel doesn't feel too comfortable.''

Rough treatment

In March, a car driven by the wife of the first secretary of the French Embassy, Jean-Luc Bodin, was hit by an armed forces truck on Quinta Avenida in Miramar, according to U.S. and European diplomats based in Havana.

The woman was unhurt, and called her husband from a cellular phone. He arrived and began taking pictures for insurance purposes. The Cuban officers involved in the accident tried to halt Bodin's picture-taking and a shoving match ensued.

While neither source asserted that the accident had been intentional, they said the rough treatment of Bodin signaled an end to the days when diplomats were given preferential treatment.

``There's an attitude of saying that going after diplomats is OK,'' the U.S. official said. Cuban authorities, he said, are ``in a kind of siege mentality with this transition plan.''

The French Embassy in Havana could not be reached for comment. In Washington, French Embassy spokesman Bernard Valero said ``We are not aware of any such incident.''

On March 20, Cuban Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina roiled already difficult relations with Madrid by branding his Spanish counterpart a ``liar and a blackmailer.''

War of words

The outburst capped an escalating war of words over the fate of a Spanish tourist who had been repeatedly barred from returning to Spain because of his involvement in a traffic accident. In response, Spanish Foreign Minister Abel Matutes threatened to declare Cuba an unsafe vacation spot.

The dispute highlighted a broader impasse between Havana and the conservative government of President Jose Maria Aznar. In November the Castro government refused to accept Jose Coderch, Aznar's choice for ambassador to Havana, after Coderch told a Madrid newspaper he would ``throw the embassy doors wide open'' to anti-Castro dissidents.

On March 21, two U.S. diplomats -- Political Officer Robert Witajewski and Human Rights Officer Steve Rice -- emerged from a meeting in Cienfuegos with independent journalist Olance Nogueras to find their car had a flat tire and they were being badgered by a Cuban camera crew.

Protesting the event later, the State Department said the crew was ``undoubtedly working for state security [and] . . . aggressively pressed the [American] officers to respond to questions on U.S. `imperialism' and whether they felt `threatened' by the damage to their vehicle.''

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