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Cuba Responds to U.N. Vote
Aired April 18, 2003 - 14:39 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Cuba is lashing out against the U.N. vote, calling for a human rights envoy to probe alleged abuses there. The vote comes amid controversy over recent Cuban executions and dissident arrests.
CNN's Lucia Newman is there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LUCIA NEWMAN, HAVANA BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): In an official communique read on state television, Cuba's communist government reacted immediately to the U.N. rights resolution with fury and thunder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): After suffering humiliating setbacks, the U.S. government was able to impose its anti- Cuban measure in Geneva through a diluted and cynical document, presented by its lackeys like Uruguay, Nicaragua, and Peru.
NEWMAN: Everyone from the European Union to Chile and Mexico are described at servile slaves of Washington's will. This even though the resolution only calls on Havana to accept a U.N. human rights monitor, rather than much tougher language proposed by Washington and the E.U. in light of the recent jailings of dissidents.
The wife of one opposition journalist just sentenced to 20 years in prison applauds the U.N. resolution.
"The world has to respond to such a disgrace," says Blanca Reyes, "and I feel the support of world opinion even though Cuban intellectuals and artists remain silent."
Just hours before the U.N. vote, the Human Rights Commission of the Organization of American States issued a strong condemnation against the Castro government for last week's executions of three men. They had sequestered a passenger boat in Havana Bay in an unsuccessful attempt to reach the United States, and were condemned to death for terrorism although no one was injured in the incident.
Both the executions and the unprecedented crackdown on the opposition have sparked a wave of international criticism. While Cuba's leader continues to insist his is the world's most democratic government. Human rights activists are outraged.
ELIZARDO SANCHEZ, HUMAN RIGHTS AND RECONCILIATION COMMITTEE (through translator): It's such a fundamentalist position, something like being a tropical Taliban, that it doesn't allow them to respond positively to any international calls for change.
NEWMAN: The Cuban government justifies its growing isolation by saying the world is caving in to U.S. pressure.
(on camera): More difficult to explain is why even a close friend, like Nobel Literature Prize winner Jose Saramago, a leftist, also turned his back on Fidel Castro this week, saying that with its recent crackdowns and executions, Cuba's communist government has gone too far.
Lucia Newman, CNN, Havana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 18, 2003 - 14:39 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Cuba is lashing out against the U.N. vote, calling for a human rights envoy to probe alleged abuses there. The vote comes amid controversy over recent Cuban executions and dissident arrests.
CNN's Lucia Newman is there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LUCIA NEWMAN, HAVANA BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): In an official communique read on state television, Cuba's communist government reacted immediately to the U.N. rights resolution with fury and thunder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): After suffering humiliating setbacks, the U.S. government was able to impose its anti- Cuban measure in Geneva through a diluted and cynical document, presented by its lackeys like Uruguay, Nicaragua, and Peru.
NEWMAN: Everyone from the European Union to Chile and Mexico are described at servile slaves of Washington's will. This even though the resolution only calls on Havana to accept a U.N. human rights monitor, rather than much tougher language proposed by Washington and the E.U. in light of the recent jailings of dissidents.
The wife of one opposition journalist just sentenced to 20 years in prison applauds the U.N. resolution.
"The world has to respond to such a disgrace," says Blanca Reyes, "and I feel the support of world opinion even though Cuban intellectuals and artists remain silent."
Just hours before the U.N. vote, the Human Rights Commission of the Organization of American States issued a strong condemnation against the Castro government for last week's executions of three men. They had sequestered a passenger boat in Havana Bay in an unsuccessful attempt to reach the United States, and were condemned to death for terrorism although no one was injured in the incident.
Both the executions and the unprecedented crackdown on the opposition have sparked a wave of international criticism. While Cuba's leader continues to insist his is the world's most democratic government. Human rights activists are outraged.
ELIZARDO SANCHEZ, HUMAN RIGHTS AND RECONCILIATION COMMITTEE (through translator): It's such a fundamentalist position, something like being a tropical Taliban, that it doesn't allow them to respond positively to any international calls for change.
NEWMAN: The Cuban government justifies its growing isolation by saying the world is caving in to U.S. pressure.
(on camera): More difficult to explain is why even a close friend, like Nobel Literature Prize winner Jose Saramago, a leftist, also turned his back on Fidel Castro this week, saying that with its recent crackdowns and executions, Cuba's communist government has gone too far.
Lucia Newman, CNN, Havana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
