>Click to enlarge photo  Uruguayan journalists Pablo Silva, Jose Luis Martinez, Fernan Cisnero and Pedro Dutour, with U.S. Embassy deputy chief of mission Linda Gonzalez during the August 18 video conference with Thomas Shannon and Caleb McCarry. VIDEO

The U.S. State Department's assistant secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Thomas A. Shannon and Cuban Issues coordinator Caleb McCarry held a video conference on August 18 with an audience in Montevideo consisiting of journalists Fernan Cisnero from the daily El Pais, Pedro Dutour from El Observador, Jose Luis Martinez from La Republica, Pablo Silva from Ultimas Noticias, and special guests, congressmen Jaime Trobo and Daniel Peña, minister Rodolfo Invernizzi from the Uruguayan Foreign Affairs U.S. Desk, and Dr. Julio César Jaureguy, former Uruguayan Ambassador to the OAS and editorial writer for El Pais.

Speaking in Spanish, Shannon offered to answer any questions put to him by the panel of journalists, however he began by expressing the administration's concerns about the political situation in Cuba. Shannon said "we see ... a slow-motion transfer of power from Fidel Castro, the revolutionary leader, to some people, including Raul Castro, who represent the various institutions of the Cuban state, a totalitarian state." Shannon repeated the U.S. offer to consider lifting its trade embargo on Havana if the Cuban regime fulfills a number of requirements, such as releasing political prisoners; guaranteeing fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of speech and association; allowing the creation of organizations that are independent of the state, including trade unions, neighborhood associations, and political parties; and starting a "pathway" that leads to free and fair elections.

The assistant secretary said President Bush offered in a 2002 speech "to find a way to lift the embargo," but Castro rejected the offer. "The offer is still on the table," Shannon emphasized.

But in Shannon’s view the members of Castro's regime have no intention of giving up power. "What we have seen so far is Fidel Castro announcing that Raul Castro is his heir, that means that there is no democratic process," Shannon said. He added that when Cuba "is prepared to start a transition to democracy, we will be prepared to initiate a dialogue on our political and economic relations."

Shannon reiterated the U.S. view that the Cuban people themselves must drive a transition to democracy in Cuba. "I want to make clear that the purpose of our policy is not to intervene and impose solutions," Shannon said. "It is the Cuban people who have to decide their future ... freely and democratically."

When asked about Fidel Castro's health, Shannon affirmed that "the information we have ... is exactly the same you have. He is an 80-year old man who suffered a serious health crisis, he is recovering, but we do not know how." According to Shannon, the severity of Castro's illness is unknown because the Cuban state is "opaque." Cuba's government, he said, "uses information as something to be kept and manipulated for political purposes."

A transcript of Shannon's video conference is available in Spanish.

Following is a translation of the video conference:

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TRANSCRIPT

DVC ON CUBA WITH US DEPT. OF STATE ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS THOMAS SHANNON AND CUBAN ISSUES COORDINATOR CALEB MCCARRY

Moderator in Montevideo: ADCM Linda T. Gónzález

LINDA GONZALEZ: Good morning

THOMAS SHANNON: Hello, how are you?

LINDA GONZALEZ: We are fine. Welcome to Montevideo, Uruguay. It is a pleasure for us. I would like to introduce you to a group of very distinguished people who are here with us today. We have members of the International Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, Representative Jaime Trobo, and Representative Daniel Peña Fernández. Also from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we have Minister Rodolfo Invernizzi and Dr. Julio César Jaureguy, former ambassador to the OAS. And there are also four journalists with us. Thank you very much.

THOMAS SHANNON: No. Many thanks to you. It is a pleasure for us to talk to all of you today. Welcome to the members of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and also to the members of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and especially former ambassador or permanent representative to the OAS. I spent a long time working in the OAS; I feel great respect for this organization, and especially respect for diplomats who have worked in the OAS. And lastly, thank you very much to all journalists present. We are ready to answer your questions. I just wanted to say briefly, now, that we are ready to receive any kind of questions, but I wanted to say something about Cuba and our policy in Cuba, especially regarding the most recent events in Cuba. From our point of view, we see in Cuba nowadays is a slow-motion transfer of power from Fidel Castro, the revolutionary leader, to some people, including Raúl Castro, who represent the various institutions of the Cuban state, a totalitarian state. And this transfer will take time to consolidate, but it will eventually end up in an agreement to share power among the different state institutions. But during this attempt to transfer power and ensure that the Cuban regime may survive this process, I believe the international community has an opportunity to talk about the importance of a transition to democracy in Cuba and also about the importance of allowing the Cuban people to have a say in their own future. And from our point of view, this is important, not only for Cuba and to guarantee the stability in Cuba, because we believe that during the transfer process the system will need much more repression to survive, and it is important for stability to begin a transition process to democracy, but it is more important for the Americas that the Cuba’s transition to democracy be successful, because it is the only way for Cuba to reintegrate into the inter-American system, within the Organization of America States, the IDB, the process of the Summit of the Americas and other inter-American organizations. I believe that with a successful transition Cuba will actually complete the Americas, that is, the Americas will no longer be without an important part as they have been doing for decades, and we understand that this should be the main objective of diplomacy in the region, and something on which we will be working. This said, we are ready to receive your questions. Thank you very much.

LINDA GONZALEZ: Thank you very much. Let’s start with Fernán Cisnero from El País.

EL PAIS: Good morning. It is a pleasure to be here. Thank you for receiving us. My question is on this transition process in Cuba and the role that Hugo Chavez would play in this process. He has appeared quite close to this regime and has been hitting the headlines since Fidel Castro’s illness was known. What role would Chavez and Venezuela play in all this transition process?

THOMAS SHANNON: It is a very good question, and actually it is a question that only Hugo Chavez may reply. But we could say, and have publicly said, that Venezuela has a very important relation with Cuba, and Hugo Chavez has a very important relation with Fidel Castro and also with other members of the Cuban regime. From our point of view, this is a historical moment because Hugo Chaves could, because of this relation and influence, join the rest of the hemisphere in favor of democracy, in favor of human rights, in favor of the release of political prisons in Cuba, and push this transition process, or he could decide to align himself with the totalitarian state. I believe that it is a clear decision, a very important decision for Hugo Chavez in terms of defining himself as a democrat within the Americas, and it is our hope that he and Venezuela will have a positive response in the historical moment.

LINDA GONZALEZ: Let’s continue with Pedro Dutour from El Observador. Thank you.

EL OBSERVADOR: Thank you. Good afternoon. My question is on the fact the United States has been accused of intervening in the Cuban policy, and many intellectuals are fighting in favor of leaving Cubans decide their own future. To what extent can the United States disregard this process of democracy and to what extent can’t the United States at least give an opinion on Cuba?

THOMAS SHANNON: Well, we agree to not intervening in Cuba. And what I mean by this is that only the Cuban people can decide their future. It is impossible to impose political solutions in Cuba; it is the Cuban people who have to decide their future. They need the opportunity to participate in the process that will determine their future; what we have seen so far is Fidel Castro announcing that Raul Castro is his heir, that means that there is no democratic process. There is no vote. From our viewpoint, at the moment of transfer, the international community should seek a way to create a democratic context to help the Cuban people have a role within their own system. In this respect, I do not believe that asking the Cuban regime to release political prisoners is intervention, that asking the Cuban regime to respect human rights is intervention, that asking the Cuban regime to allow the creation of organizations independent from the state is intervention, or that asking them to create a mechanism and a path to free, transparent elections is intervention. But I want to make clear that the purpose of our policy is not to intervene and impose solutions. On the contrary, it is to seek a way to allow Cubans decide their own future freely and democratically, and then help Cuba to reintegrate into the inter-American system. Caleb, you may want ...

CALEB MCCARRY: No, of course. In this respect, the work of the Commission of Assistance to a Free Cuba, precisely in the second report issued on July 10, conveys our high respect for the sovereignty of the Cuban people who are to decide their own democratic future and insists that they have that right. Furthermore, our work here consists in preparing a very important offer, a very respectful offer we would make to a transition government in Cuba committed to respect democratic rights of Cubans, to release political prisoners and to smooth the way for Cuban to go to the polls and freely elect their leaders. It is a very simple message, and it is a message of respect for the sovereignty of the Cuban people.

LINDA GONZALEZ: We will continue with José Luis Martínez from La República.

LA REPUBLICA: It is a pleasure to be talking with you. Is the United States prepared at some point in this transition as you call it to start conversations with some Cuban authorities precisely to reinforce that transition process or have you already done so or are there plans to start such conversations?

THOMAS SHANNON: Well, everything depends on what is going on in Cuba. Some year ago, in 2002, in an address to the Cuban people, especially to Fidel Castro, President Bush said that if Cuba was willing to start a transition to democracy, if Cuba was prepared to do what I have just said, i.e. to release political prisoners, to guarantee human rights, to allow the creation of independent organizations and create a framework and mechanism to hold free, transparent elections, President Bush was willing to talk to the Congress to find a way to lift the embargo and also to start an in-depth evaluation with Cuban authorities. At that time, Fidel Castro rejected the offer completely, but the offer is still on the table. That is, if Cubans are willing to start a transition to democracy, we are prepared to respond.

LINDA GONZALEZ: Let’s continue with Pablo Silva from Últimas Noticias.

ULTIMAS NOTICIAS: Good day. Thank you for receiving us in this house. In Cuba, for some weeks since Fidel Castro’s illness was announced, there have been a number of military preparations and it is said that the population will be called to defense. Is there any risk of a military action in the area?

THOMAS SHANNON: Not from our viewpoint; on the contrary, we completely rule out any possibility of any military action. In our opinion, today it is not the time to activate troops or military groups in Cuba. Today it is the time to open a political space, and this reflects a bit on what I said before about stability. From our viewpoint, the way to guarantee stability in Cuba is to start a democratic process, start a transition, because with a transition, the Cuban people will know they have a future in their own country, that there is no reason to try to escape to improve their lives, that they can improve their lives in Cuba; in this respect, the way to guarantee stability is to guarantee that there are no conflicts of any kind, it is with democracy.

LINDA GONZALEZ: We will continue again with Fernán Cisnero from El País.

EL PAIS: Thank you. What information do you have on Fidel Castro's health condition? Based on these assumptions, what are the next steps?

THOMAS SHANNON: Unfortunately, the Cuban state is an opaque state. There is no free information; the state uses information as something to be kept and manipulated for political purposes, it is not something to be freely shared to inform and improve dialogue and public discussion. Then, the reality is that the information that we have on the health of Fidel Castro is exactly the same you have. He is an 80-year old man, who suffered a serious health crisis, he is recovering, but we do not know how; the only thing we see is a weak 80-year old man who has suffered such a crisis, and probably he will not play the same role as before

LINDA GONZALEZ: Pedro, from El Observador?

EL OBSERVADOR: Yes. I wanted to ask you about the embargo, whether there are any possibilities of lifting the embargo in the event that Fidel Castro is out of the political spectrum.

THOMAS SHANNON: The future of the embargo is not so much related to Fidel Castro, but to democracy. That is, at the time Cuba is prepared to start a transition to democracy, we will be prepared to initiate a dialogue on our political and economic relations: Fidel Castro is not the deciding factor, the transition to democracy is.

CALEB MCCARRY: This is exactly how it is, our legislation and our policy takes into consideration that when there is a transition government committed to give democratic rights back to the Cuban people, committed to set political prisoners free and have them reinserted into the Cuban society as it should be in democratic countries, and there is a clear commitment to free, transparent elections in Cuba, and steps taken to have Cuba regain its own sovereignty, that is the time when we would take steps for an effective trade between the United States and Cuba. We must not forget that there is no economic freedom in Cuba, that Cuban citizens do not have economic rights, they cannot own their businesses. Therefore, it is very important for us that such opening is accompanied by a process through which Cubans can own their our economic and political destiny, and that trade between the United States and Cuba actually helps Cubans in the process of a transition to a prosperous and democratic future that they have to define themselves.

THOMAS SHANNON: We have time for one more question.

LINDA GONZALEZ: José Luis?

LA REPUBLICA: Do you perceive any sector within the Cuban regime that is willing to hold talks with the U.S. government? That is, in this transition process –I suppose, and a lot has been said in this regard– there are sectors in the government that are more radical, and others at least less radical. Is there any sector or any niche within the Cuban regime with whom you could initiate talks?

THOMAS SHANNON: At this point, the Cuban state is completely frozen because it is in this process of transfer of power and they do not know exactly what the outcome of this transfer will be, because there is actually a competition among different state organizations, and Fidel Castro, while alive and conscious, will act as an arbiter between the various organizations during this transfer. Then, the various state sectors that may be interested in a transition to democracy, that may be interested in participating in a democratic opening and that may be interested in initiating talks, not only with the United States, but also with other countries and organizations interested in a democratic transition, in fact they cannot act publicly, they will have to act cautiously at such time. Today, we do not see any, but perhaps there will be some in the future.

Thank you very much. Thanks also to the members of the Parliament and the Ministry who participated today. It was a pleasure and an honor for us, and I expect we will soon have the opportunity to continue this dialogue.

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