| For Immediate Release Sep 17, 2002 |
Contact: Press Office 202-646-5188 |
Bush Administration Allows U.S. Companies to Economically Prop Up Cuba – A State Sponsor of Terrorism Press Conference 9:30 A.M. Tuesday, September 17, 2002 National Press Club Holeman Lounge 529 14th St., NW Washington, D.C. (Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption and abuse, said today that it filed a formal complaint with President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Attorney General John Ashcroft, Treasury Secretary Paul H. O’Neill and the Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”) to revoke the license granted to PWN Exhibicon to conduct a “U.S. Food & Agribusiness Exhibition,” in Havana, Cuba from September 26 – September 30, 2002. Cuba is a U.S. State Department-designated state sponsor of terrorism. Since the September 11th attacks, Fidel Castro labeled the US-led war on terrorism "worse than the original attacks, militaristic, and fascist." During a 2001 tour of Iran, Syria and Libya, Castro was quoted by many of the world’s media outlets as saying: “Iran and Cuba, in cooperation with each other, can bring America to its knees. The U.S. regime is very week and we are witnessing this weakness from close up.” Cuba continues to actively support terror groups, including the Basque ETA, Colombia’s FARC and ELN, as well as Northern Ireland’s Sinn Fein. The planned “U.S. Food & Agribusiness Exhibition,” in Havana is a frivolous and harmful promotional event. The U.S. government’s active endorsement and licensure of such activity, by U.S. corporations, in the capital of a terror state, during a time of war, is inconsistent foreign and trade policy – as well as prime propaganda fodder for Castro and his terrorist allies. Expo participants reportedly include major U.S. agribusiness corporations, including: Archer Daniels Midland, Perdue Farms, Cargill, Hormel, and Tyson Foods, among others. According to 1998 campaign figures, agribusiness interests dispensed nearly $43.3 million to federal candidates and parties. Both Republicans and Democrats cater to agribusiness corporations seeking ways to circumvent the Cuban embargo. This may explain how the Clinton administration’s “Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000,” is allowed to take precedence over the Bush administration’s “war on terror.” “It’s bad enough that the Bush administration licensed this trade expo in the first place, but if it now chooses not to revoke the license, then their hypocrisy on terrorism will be a national disgrace,” stated Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman. To view a copy of the letter, click here. | |