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CNN Saturday Morning News

Tensions Rise Between U.S., Cuba

Aired April 26, 2003 - 08:40   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.


KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: For more on the rising tensions between the governments of the U.S. and Cuba, I'm joined by our political analyst, Bill Schneider. Bill, it's good to see you.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Kelli.

ARENA: Bill, how does this speech play politically here in the United States?

SCHNEIDER: Well, I think it was seen as Castro taking advantage of the anti-American mood of the world. You know, Anti-Americanism is how he stays in power. He stayed in power. He has been in power longer than any leader of any country in the world. He has lasted through 10 United States presidents. He came to power January 1, 1959 and he stayed in power through mostly anti-American resentment and he sees an opportunity here to sustain that, so he's playing off it once again.

ARENA: Bill, what do you think this does to moods in Congress to perhaps lift the trade embargo, travel restrictions to Cuba? Does it stop it short?

SCHNEIDER: Stops it right in the bud. It's just gone. I mean, you've got a lot of Republicans, actually, from farm states trying to make the argument that the United States should open markets in Cuba. They want to sell the products of their farms to Cuba. It's a big market down there and they want to open new markets, and they've been pushing for a long time for the United States to relax restrictions on Cuba. We have trade relations with a lot of countries whose policies we don't approve of, but Cuba remains the exception. Any movement in that direction will be cut off in part because of what the Cubans have done and in part because critical state, Florida. The governor of Florida, the president's brother, has been even more vigorous than the president in toughening the embargo and the restrictions on relationships with Cuba.

ARENA: So not even a watered down version, you don't even see that?

SCHNEIDER: I don't see that happening right now. Not in the current environment.

ARENA: OK. Well, what about -- we also had, as you know, U.S. policy and it applies only to Cuba that if Cubans make it to U.S. soil, then they're OK, that they can be admitted into the United States. It doesn't apply to any other immigrant group. Do you see any political motivation to change that policy?

SCHNEIDER: Well, at the moment, no. That's largely in part to the fact that Cuban exiles in the United States and Cuban-American community are very well organized and have always been militantly anti-Castro, and they treat Cuban refugees as an exception. They define all of them, all of them as political refugees, whereas Haitians who come to the American shore are treated as economic refugees, and most of them are sent back.

Is that likely to change? Well, remember, Florida, Florida, Florida, critical battleground state. And as long as the Cuban community and the Cuban-American community in Florida remains as organized and as militant as it has been, unlikely to change. Two things could happen. One, other groups, like Haitian Americans and other Latin American groups, as they move into the United States, as they become citizens and voters, are likely to have some say about this in the long term. And second of all, the children and grandchildren of the original Cubans who settled in the United States aren't quite as militant on the Cuban issue as the first generation was. Over the long term, you may see changes, not in the immediate future.

ARENA: OK, Florida, Florida, Florida. I got it, Bill. Thank you so much for your time.

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 26, 2003 - 08:40   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: For more on the rising tensions between the governments of the U.S. and Cuba, I'm joined by our political analyst, Bill Schneider. Bill, it's good to see you.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Kelli.

ARENA: Bill, how does this speech play politically here in the United States?

SCHNEIDER: Well, I think it was seen as Castro taking advantage of the anti-American mood of the world. You know, Anti-Americanism is how he stays in power. He stayed in power. He has been in power longer than any leader of any country in the world. He has lasted through 10 United States presidents. He came to power January 1, 1959 and he stayed in power through mostly anti-American resentment and he sees an opportunity here to sustain that, so he's playing off it once again.

ARENA: Bill, what do you think this does to moods in Congress to perhaps lift the trade embargo, travel restrictions to Cuba? Does it stop it short?

SCHNEIDER: Stops it right in the bud. It's just gone. I mean, you've got a lot of Republicans, actually, from farm states trying to make the argument that the United States should open markets in Cuba. They want to sell the products of their farms to Cuba. It's a big market down there and they want to open new markets, and they've been pushing for a long time for the United States to relax restrictions on Cuba. We have trade relations with a lot of countries whose policies we don't approve of, but Cuba remains the exception. Any movement in that direction will be cut off in part because of what the Cubans have done and in part because critical state, Florida. The governor of Florida, the president's brother, has been even more vigorous than the president in toughening the embargo and the restrictions on relationships with Cuba.

ARENA: So not even a watered down version, you don't even see that?

SCHNEIDER: I don't see that happening right now. Not in the current environment.

ARENA: OK. Well, what about -- we also had, as you know, U.S. policy and it applies only to Cuba that if Cubans make it to U.S. soil, then they're OK, that they can be admitted into the United States. It doesn't apply to any other immigrant group. Do you see any political motivation to change that policy?

SCHNEIDER: Well, at the moment, no. That's largely in part to the fact that Cuban exiles in the United States and Cuban-American community are very well organized and have always been militantly anti-Castro, and they treat Cuban refugees as an exception. They define all of them, all of them as political refugees, whereas Haitians who come to the American shore are treated as economic refugees, and most of them are sent back.

Is that likely to change? Well, remember, Florida, Florida, Florida, critical battleground state. And as long as the Cuban community and the Cuban-American community in Florida remains as organized and as militant as it has been, unlikely to change. Two things could happen. One, other groups, like Haitian Americans and other Latin American groups, as they move into the United States, as they become citizens and voters, are likely to have some say about this in the long term. And second of all, the children and grandchildren of the original Cubans who settled in the United States aren't quite as militant on the Cuban issue as the first generation was. Over the long term, you may see changes, not in the immediate future.

ARENA: OK, Florida, Florida, Florida. I got it, Bill. Thank you so much for your time.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com