NAACP hit for policy on Cuba


By Steve Miller
THE WASHINGTON TIMES



MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Cuban dissidents yesterday accused the NAACP
of a double standard in its promotion of human rights, defending those
of blacks in South Africa while embracing — rather than condemning —
the treatment of blacks in Cuba.
"I have never heard of a chapter of the NAACP taking an interest
in the Cuban Negro," said Eusebio Penalver Mazorra, a black Cuban who
spent 28 of his 69 years as a jailed dissident in the communist
nation.
"While they moved in a precise way for solidarity to get rid of
apartheid in South Africa, we have never received their support, even
though we have asked for it."
Mr. Mazorra is part of the Municipalities of Cuba in Exile, an
umbrella group for several factions of the Cuban community who now
live in the United States after being jailed under the regime of Cuban
dictator Fidel Castro.
With the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People holding its 94th annual convention here, Cuban interest groups
have lobbied for a meeting with its president, Kweisi Mfume, who
yesterday told The Washington Times he understood the perception of
such a double standard.
"As long as they know that there were other groups also advocating
in South Africa. It wasn't just the NAACP," said Mr. Mfume.
With regard to those jailed by Mr. Castro, "Our concern is right
up there with everyone else's," Mr. Mfume said. "I think there needs
to be a diplomatic effort here, and I think it will take negotiation,
and most likely through back-channel communications. But something has
to come out of this to help relations between the two nations."
The United States maintains no diplomatic relations with Cuba, and
trade and travel are severely limited.
Of the many overtures made to him, Mr. Mfume yesterday chose to
spend 90 minutes with the Cuban American National Foundation, a group
that is seen by some Cubans as too mainstream but that still wields a
powerful anti-Castro stance.
"What we did was to establish a starting point," said CANF
Executive Director Joe Garcia. The meeting was attended by some of Mr.
Mfume's staff, as well as members of the local Cuban community.
"He is aware of what is going on in Cuba," Mr. Garcia said. "But I
am aware that we cannot deprogram him in one hour. Clearly, the debate
in Cuba is one of civil rights and justice. But what we did was create
a point of reference."
Anti-Castro groups here have stepped up calls for international
action against Cuba for human rights violations since the April
execution of three black Cubans who attempted to hijack a boat to
Miami.
The execution drew the condemnation of the international community
and renewed accusations of racism in the Castro regime, which seized
power in 1959. Cuba is 70 percent black, but few blacks occupy high
ranks in Mr. Castro's government.
The NAACP did not comment on the executions.
As Mr. Garcia met with Mr. Mfume yesterday, Venezuelan
human-rights activist Ana Maria Lamar accused the NAACP of hypocrisy
for the trade agreement it struck with Mr. Castro during a fall visit
to the island.
During that trip, a delegation of 18, including NAACP officials
and leaders of black farmer groups, made a deal under which black
American farmers would sell their goods to Cuba.
"[Mr. Mfume] is helping to subsidize a regime while blacks are
being imprisoned and executed," said Miss Lamar.
"We are asking that the NAACP be consistent in its human rights
policies," she said. "Maybe now that the national leaders are here and
preparing to hold a Caribbean summit, they will use what we know about
how Castro treats blacks as they speak."
Mr. Mfume said that there are ways to deal with Castro's actions.
"What we hope we can do is to work in coalition with these [Cuban
human rights] groups," he said.
Despite his tough talk on Castro yesterday, Mr. Mfume has praised
Cuba in several discussions this week.
Mr. Mfume recounted a fall trip to Cuba during a press conference
over the weekend: "We met with African American students who
matriculated from Cuba — by the way, at no cost — from all over the
U.S. because they couldn't get into medical school here because of
this system that still sometimes creates impediments."
He has also lauded Cuba's national health care plan and praised
its public education.
On Monday, Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas, himself a Cuban, further
inflamed some local Cubans by apologizing to South African leader
Nelson Mandela for a snub by Miami city officials here during a visit
in 1990. Officials refused to welcome Mr. Mandela because of his close
ties with Mr. Castro.
The apology was made during the mayor's opening remarks at the
convention.
Mr. Mandela had enraged the officials with comments he made in
Havana about Cuban exiles in Miami.
"Who are they to call for an observance of human rights in Cuba?"
Mr. Mandela asked in a speech. "They kept quiet for 42 years when
human rights were attacked in South Africa."
"Where is our apology from Mandela?" asked Ernesto Diaz Rodriguez,
a Cuban immigrant. "Our mayor, a Cuban, apologizes for no reason. And
he does not mention the oppression of blacks in our country."