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| For Immediate Release | |
| Nov 1, 2001 | Contact: Press Office 202-646-5172 |
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(Washington, D.C.) Judicial Watch, the public interest law firm that investigates and prosecutes government corruption and abuse, states that while the United States government continues to ignore that Cuba is an eminent threat to this country, more and more evidence surfaces that dictator Fidel Castro is in fact a tremendous danger that government officials can no longer afford to ignore. Castro’s cozy relationship with Iran, strong ties to some of the world’s deadliest terrorist groups and biotechnology manufacturing plants along with his well-documented hatred of America, should be enough to consider him dangerous. Additionally, more evidence has recently been uncovered that Castro is in fact a threat to national security. Yet, the Bush administration, which early on expressed an interest to soften the U.S. embargo against Cuba, continues to ignore the facts. At a recent House International Relations Committee hearing to discuss the continuing war on terrorism, Congressman Robert Menendez of New Jersey presented Secretary of State Colin Powell with information and hard-hitting questions regarding several recent events that implicate Castro in terrorism. Menendez asked the Secretary of State about reports that three suspected Afghans were arrested in the Cayman Islands with fake passports after transit to Cuba. He went on to mention the Cuban spy, Ana Belen Montes, who worked for the Pentagon and the kind of classified information she provided Cuba. Then Menendez told Powell how the Cuban spies recently convicted in Florida provided Castro with detailed information about the U.S. mail system. Finally, Menendez told Powell about Castro’s recent visit to Iran, the interchanges that have for years existed between scientists in Cuba and Iran and the documented cases of terrorists who have sought and achieved safe harbor on the island. Even scarier than the above-mentioned incidents was Powell’s response: ‘‘With respect to your comments about Cuba, I’m not familiar with most of the items that you mentioned,” Powell told the Congressman at the House International Relations Committee meeting. Powell went on to say that the U.S. keeps a close eye on Cuba, but added: ‘‘.... I don’t know that we have seen any linkages that would cause us to believe that the events of 11 September in any way trace back to Havana, but I’m sure our intelligence agencies are keeping their antennae up.” This from the same individual who shortly after becoming Secretary of State proudly announced that he wanted to soften the U.S. embargo against Cuba. “While the U.S. government continues to focus on Middle-Eastern terrorist cells, it is committing a huge mistake in ignoring the world’s longest ruling dictator, who sits only 90 miles off our coast constantly scheming of ways to destroy this great country. (During a tour of Iran, Syria and Libya earlier this year, Castro was quoted in many media outlets as saying: ‘‘Iran and Cuba, in cooperation with each other, can bring America to its knees...”),” stated Judicial Watch Chairman Larry Klayman. “Yet, in a blatant display of denial and ‘chutzpah,’ the U.S. contacted Cuba for support only days after the terrorist attack in New York even though the Communist dictatorship is on the U.S. terrorist nation watch list. Do U.S. officials really think Fidel Castro would ever do anything to help the country he has despised and tried to destroy (during the Cuban missile crisis) for nearly 50 years? Perhaps this administration needs a shot of Cuban coffee to help it wake up and realize who Fidel Castro really is,” added Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. |
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