From: Subject: Fidel Castro calls US changes positive but minimal Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:32:29 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0070_01C9BD0D.D7288030" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3350 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0070_01C9BD0D.D7288030 Content-Type: text/html; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090414/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_cuba_more_americans;_ylt=AlM_5RBJpeDs5Me0mcmYxkQV6w8F;_ylu=X3oDMTE5ZXQwZzB1BHBvcwM1BHNlYwN5bi1tb3N0LXZpZXdlZARzbGsDZmlkZWxjYXN0cm9j =EF=BB=BF Fidel Castro calls US changes positive but = minimal
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Fidel Castro calls US changes positive but minimal

Play Video AP=20  =E2=80=93 U.S. eases Cuban travel, money restraints =
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AFP/Presidencia/File =E2=80=93 Former Cuban=20 president Fidel Castro, seen here in January 2009. Several US lawmakers = met=20 Tuesday with =E2=80=A6
By WILL WEISSERT, Associated = Press Writer=20 Will Weissert, Associated Press Writer = =E2=80=93=20 2 hrs 47 mins ago

HAVANA =E2=80=93 Fidel = Castro said=20 Tuesday the Obama=20 administration's softening of sanctions is "positive although minimal," = and=20 criticized it for leaving in place the embargo that bars most trade and = travel=20 between the two countries.

The White House = announced=20 Monday that Americans will now be able to make unlimited transfers of = money and=20 visits to relatives in Cuba.=20 Under Bush administration=20 rules, Cuban-Americans were eligible to travel here only every = three=20 years and send up to $300 to relatives every three months.

Monday's action eliminated those limits in the hope that less = dependence on=20 their government will lead Cubans to demand progress on political = freedoms.

Many in Cuba saw the changes as a humanitarian gesture.

"You can imagine what it is like to have a marriage by telephone," = Berta=20 Maria Mayor said Tuesday as she awaited the charter plane carrying her = husband=20 back to Cuba for the first time in three years. "I'm in love with = someone I=20 barely get to see," the 45-year-old added.

Mayor said she hoped her husband could visit several times a year, = although=20 family finances are tight after his layoff from a Florida shirt factory = job=20 three months ago.

Castro responded to the measures in an online column Monday night, = writing=20 that the U.S. had announced the repeal of "several hateful = restrictions," but=20 had stopped short of real change.

"Of the blockade, which is the cruelest of measures, not a word was = uttered,"=20 the 82-year-old former president wrote.

Castro noted that several U.S. senators favor lifting the trade = embargo and=20 urged Obama to seize the opportunity.

"The conditions are in place for Obama to use his talent in a = constructive=20 policy that ends something that has failed for nearly half a century," = he=20 wrote.

He released a second column Tuesday, saying the changes were = "positive,=20 although minimal."

"We need a lot more," he wrote, singling out the elimination of the = so-called=20 "wet-foot, dry foot" policy whereby Cuban immigrants fleeing the island = who are=20 apprehended on the high seas are sent home, but those who make it to = U.S.=20 territory are allowed to stay.

Castro also said Cuba would like to hear "some self-criticism" by the = U.S.=20 for the failed Bay of Pigs = invasion 48 years ago and a guarantee that it won't happen again = in the=20 hemisphere.

He suggested Obama won't be in the White House long enough to undo the damage = of his=20 predecessor, George W.=20 Bush.

"We do not want to hurt Obama even in the slightest, but he will only = be=20 president for one or two terms," Castro wrote. "He is not responsible = for what=20 occurred and I am sure that he will not commit the atrocities of Bush. = After=20 him, however, there could come another who is equal to or worse than his = predecessor."

While analysts say the U.S. policy change could usher in a new era of = openness between the two countries, few Cubans think it will mean the end of the = embargo,=20 which has choked off nearly all U.S. trade with the island for 47 years = and=20 counting.

"I'm not hoping for much more from Obama," said 43-year-old office = worker=20 Layna Rodriguez. "I don't know that he can do much more since to him, = the=20 important thing is what the Americans in his country do."

But many are happy that relatives in America will now be able to come = whenever they want, stay as long as they want and send as much cash home = as they=20 can. About 1.5 million Americans have relatives in Cuba, which turned to = communist rule after Fidel=20 Castro seized control in 1959.

Allowing unlimited travel by family members, "is a humanitarian = question,=20 above all a thing of the heart," said Yulesvi Ramirez as she arrived = Tuesday in=20 Cuba for the first time since leaving to live in the United States 1 1/2 = years=20 ago.

For Olguita Sierra, the shift in U.S. policy allowing Cuban-Americans = to make=20 unlimited trips and money transfers to the island came a month too late.

The 72-year-old's son Sergio lives in Miami and had not been eligible for a trip to Cuba until next = year. His=20 request for an emergency visa was pending in March when his father = passed away.

"What hurts me most is that my husband died just a little while ago = without=20 seeing him," Sierra stammered, tears welling in her eyes. "If only Obama = had=20 made this decision sooner."

Jose Pilar Ramos, a 20-something looking for work in the Old Havana tourist = district, said=20 his cousin in Miami does not have enough money to visit Cuba =E2=80=94 = regardless of=20 what U.S. law now allows.

"Obama can do what he wants, but the problem is here. People don't = want to=20 work for $4 a week, even if they get more money from family members over = there,"=20 he said, nodding toward the waters of the Florida Straits, which lap at = the=20 Havana coastline.

Nearly all Cubans work for the government, earning an average of 414 = pesos =E2=80=94=20 just $19.70 =E2=80=94 a month. Ramos said he lost his state job after = trying to flee=20 Cuba three times by small boat, most recently in February when he was = picked up=20 on the high seas by the U.S. Coast Guard and sent home.

As he spoke, a police officer approached, demanded his identification = card=20 and detained him for venturing outside of his neighborhood in East = Havana.=20 Police keep close watch on tourist areas, ensuring that foreigners and = Cubans don't mix more = than=20 necessary. Nobody bothered Ramos until he began speaking to a foreign=20 journalist.

Other steps taken by the White=20 House include expanding items allowed in gift parcels sent to = Cuba. The=20 administration also will begin issuing licenses for companies to provide = cellular and television services to Cubans, and letting family members = pay for=20 relatives on the island to get those services.

But some said the moves are only a beginning. Alberto Sal, a = 68-year-old=20 retiree, said he had high hopes when Obama was elected but is still = waiting for=20 significant action.

For instance, the president said nothing Monday about bipartisan = measures in=20 both houses of Congress that would effectively allow all Americans to = travel to=20 Cuba.

"He should do more and lift travel restrictions for all Americans," = Sal said.=20 "Until he does that, I don't think he's doing much."

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