Helms proposes $100 million in U.S. Cuba aid

May 15, 1998 8:31 AM EDT


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Jesse Helms has proposed legislation to send $100 million in U.S. government aid to the Cuban people and back democratic change on the island.
The Cuban Solidarity Act would authorize direct flights to deliver the aid and order the U.S. government to step up its support for dissident groups in Cuba.

The bill proposes sending food, medicine and medical supplies to Cuba to be delivered directly to the Cuban people through the Roman Catholic Church and other independent groups.  Cuban leader Fidel Castro has already rejected the offer for aid funded by U.S. taxpayers, and Cuban authorities insist they must have a role in any aid supplies.

The legislation, which calls for spending $25 million a year on humanitarian aid for Cuba over the next four years, was prompted by Pope John Paul II's visit to Cuba in January when he called for an end to the economic embargo that Washington has imposed on Cuba for 36 years.  Helms, a conservative Republican from North Carolina, is the staunchest backer in the U.S. Congress of the U.S. embargo and was responsible for tightening it in 1996.

But he said the legislation -- dubbed the ``Solidaridad act'' -- is meant to help Castro's opponents in the same way that the United States backed the Solidarity movement against communism in Poland in the 1980s.
``Our goal is to do today for the people of Cuba what the United States did for the Solidarity movement in Poland: give them the resources they need to build a free civil society within the empty shell of Castro's bankrupt communist revolution,'' Helms said at a news conference Thursday.

The bill, which has the backing of senators from both parties, would require President Clinton to take steps to bolster U.S. support for opponents of the Castro government.
The Clinton administration would be instructed to seek a U.N. Security Council resolution calling on Cuba to free political prisoners, legalize political parties and hold free elections.

It would also mandate anti-Castro radio and television broadcast from Guantanamo, the U.S. naval base on the southeastern tip of Cuba.

The legislation would require that the administration conduct periodic reports on human rights and workers rights in Cuba, as well as monitor the work on a Russian-built nuclear reactor and biological research on the island.
``This bill will take away Fidel Castro's excuses, by neutralizing his propaganda, which falsely blames the U.S. embargo for the hardships suffered by the Cuban people,'' Helms said.

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