Exile groups join in urging an easing of Cuba restrictions

[Mika]

Exile groups join in urging an easing of Cuba restrictions
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16157915.htm

An umbrella group of influential Cuban exile organizations has joined the growing chorus of Cubans on both sides of the Florida Straits calling for the United States to ease restrictions on travel and remittances to Cuba.

About two dozen exile organizations, speaking in unison under the umbrella group Consenso Cubano, or Cuban Consensus, will release a report today calling for the Bush administration to ease travel restrictions. The groups say U.S. policies that restrict Cubans from visiting family members and that limit remittances and other humanitarian aid ``violate fundamental rights of Cubans, damage the Cuban family, and constitute ethical contradictions.''

The announcement underscores a growing rift between hard-line exile leaders who want to preserve the sanctions, and more moderate Cuban Americans in Miami and dissidents in Cuba who feel that increasing interaction can help promote a peaceful transition to democracy.

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Just last week, U.S. Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Díaz-Balart appeared on a popular Spanish-language television talk show, A Mano Limpia, in which they defended U.S. policy toward Cuba.

The station conducted a viewer poll during the program, and it showed that most callers favored the easing of travel and remittance restrictions.

More at.. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16157915.htm




Uh oh.. the Diaz-Balart brothers, Mario and Lincoln, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen's greasy grip is slipping.