Reuters
15-MAY-98
By Andrew Cawthorne
HAVANA, May 15 (Reuters) - Cuba on Friday condemned a proposal by U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms to send American aid to the Cuban people and back democratic change on the communist-run island, saying the plan would provoke even the wrath of God.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman formally proposed on Thursday a Cuban Solidarity Act to provide $100 million in food, medicine and supplies to the Cuban people via the Roman Catholic church and other independent groups.
The bill, which would keep intact the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba and support opposition groups, would address humanitarian concerns while keeping the heat on Cuban President Fidel Castro.
A strongly worded article on the Cuban state news agency, Prensa Latina, affirmed that Havana would reject the aid proposal, even if the U.S. Congress approved it.
Helms "wants to draw the enmity of God himself by trying to turn the Catholic Church into a mule to carry material aid to groups that the weakened ultra-right, of Cuban origin in Miami, want to foment in the island,'' the report said.
Prensa Latina said Helms, a long-time foe of Castro, was known for his "intransigence'' and "paranoid style'' as well as the "sadly infamous'' 1996 Helms-Burton act that sought to tighten Washington's economic embargo.
Castro said in February the idea was "humiliating,'' "repugnant'' and "immoral.''
Cuba's Catholic church, which disagrees with Castro on many issues, supports government opposition to the Helms Solidarity bill.
"It's not a proposition that follows a healthy logic,'' wrote Cardinal Jaime Ortega in an article published earlier this week.
"It would have had an offensive aspect: reaffirming on the one hand the restrictions and isolation which are some of the causes of the difficulties, and on the other hand relieving some of those same difficulties.''
The proposed Cuban Solidarity Act would authorize direct flights to deliver aid, and order Washington to step up support for dissident groups in Cuba.
It would also seek a U.N. Security Council resolution calling on Havana to release political prisoners, legalize political parties and hold free elections.
In addition, it would mandate anti-Castro radio and television broadcast from Guantanamo, the U.S. Naval base on the southeastern tip of Cuba.
Helms, a conservative Republican from North Carolina, said the legislation would help Castro's opponents in the same way that the United States backed the Solidarity movement against communism in Poland in the 1980s.
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