Castro Cracks Down on Dissidents
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Every person who would think of abducting a child can know that a wide net will be cast. They may be found by a police cruiser or by the car right next to them on a highway.</s>ARENA: President Bush on Wednesday, talking up the new Amber Alert law, designed to push states to move quickly to get out information about abducted children. Welcome back. We're ON THE STORY. The new law also does much more to fight abductions and other crimes against children. This was a major child-protection package. I mean, obviously, the centerpiece of this legislation was the Amber Alert. And for those who don't know what the Amber Alert is, you know, you get information out on highway signs, radio and television immediately, because they say that the first couple of hours after a child is abducted, a parent realizes something is wrong, are the vital hours, in terms of finding a child or bringing them back alive and well. But this was a major accomplishment.</s>HAYS: What's interesting to me is -- I mean, I haven't been, obviously, on the story as closely as you have, Kelli, so I know -- especially, like, with Ed Smart, the father of Elizabeth Smart, who was so miraculously kidnapped and found, was adamant this had to be passed quickly. I didn't realize it was such a comprehensive bill, in terms of prohibiting child pornography, virtual child pornography, all kinds of monitoring. I mean, anyone who is strongly in favor of that kind of move is in favor of the bill, but it's interesting to me that this really mammoth act is being passed.</s>ARENA: Oh, it's huge. I mean, I had to bring a list because there's so much that's in this bill. I mean, there are background checks for people who want to work with children. As you said, it bans virtual child pornography. That's expected to be very controversial.</s>HAYS: That's huge.</s>ARENA: It also makes it illegal to take a child out of the United States in a custody battle. So there are so many things in this bill -- it doesn't allow judges as much discretion in terms of sentencing of child sex offenders. It allows for supervision for life. It allows a judge to say you, as a child sex offender, need to be supervised for life. It allow for registration in the National Sex Offenders Registry of people who have been convicted. So it does equip parents with much more information if they have someone living in their area who was convicted before...</s>HAYS: It's not just money for billboards and for signs.</s>ARENA: Right, exactly. It is major.</s>HAYS: Lots of stories on your beat this week. I want to turn you to another one, al Qaeda, which, as the president emphasized on the carrier the other day, is still going strong.</s>ARENA: The war on terror, still going strong. Well, we had a major arrest this week in Pakistan. And one -- a key al Qaeda leader, Whalid Attash (ph), was taken into custody. He was involved in the bombing of the USS Cole. He's also thought to have some involvement in the September 11 attacks, because he met with two of the hijackers pre-9/11 in Malaysia. But what was most interesting was that this so-called cell in Pakistan, according to our sources, was right in the middle of planning an attack on the U.S. consulate in Karachi. But what is even more important than that -- that's important enough -- is that they were planning to use an explosive-laden aircraft to do this, which only underscores the continued interest that al Qaeda has in using aircraft for attacks. I mean, they were very successful on September 11. And so, a warning went out to the airline industry here in the United States, saying, "Hello, be aware."</s>SNOW: It's chilling. At a time when we just cut back the money for baggage handlers, by the way, because the terror alert was reduced, only</s>ARENA: Mohammed. It's such a -- it's a wonderful story. We only knew him...</s>HAYS: I worry for this guy, though. I worry because we all know where he is now. We know he's living in the...</s>ARENA: Well, nobody really knows where he is. He's in the United States. He's in the D.C. area right now. But we only knew him as Mohammed. This was the man who, you know, had trekked the six miles to get to the Marines to tell them that he had seen Jessica Lynch in the hospital, went back to the hospital, provided them a layout so they could, you know, get her rescued. Big hero. He comes to the United States, got asylum. He, his wife, his 6-year-old daughter, offered a job by the Livingston Group, which is a Washington lobbying firm. Was also, apparently, injured -- got an eye injury during the Jessica Lynch rescue. And so there is an eye surgeon here that's providing him with free medical care. There was a big push in West Virginia, obviously, to have him come and live there, because of course Jessica's hometown -- you know, they wanted him. But it looks like he's going to stay in the Washington area.</s>SNOW: How much in danger, realistically, do authorities think he is, at this point?</s>ARENA: Well, they do say that he did receive very specific threats when he was in Iraq, and he was granted humanitarian parole as a result of that and they got him out of there pretty quickly. But there was a very big anti-American sentiment. And of course, the longer the U.S. stays there, the more that would build up. And so they really thought that his life was in danger.</s>SNOW: But he did an amazing thing. From U.S. justice to justice Cuban-style. While much of the world was watching the war, Cuban leader Fidel Castro was executing hijackers and throwing political opponents in prison. CNN Havana bureau chief, on the story, Lucia Newman, in two minutes, right after a check on what's making headlines at this hour.</s>COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: The Castro regime is cracking down on Cuban citizens who dare ask for a voice in how they are governed. Far from offering liberty and hope, the regime is turning to arrest and harsh prison sentences.</s>LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN HAVANA BUREAU CHIEF: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell started the week by blasting Cuba's president, Fidel Castro. I'm Lucia Newman in Havana, on the story. Castro, in turn, is accusing the United States of wanting to invade this country again, amid a growing wave of international criticism against his government for the crackdown on dissidents. So it looks again like back to square one, just as it seemed like things between the United States and Cuba were beginning to get better -- Kate.</s>SNOW: Lucia, I was there, what, about a year ago now with you when President Carter was down there, and everyone thought things were sort of turning for the better. The Congress was considering maybe lifting some of the travel restrictions. Do you get the sense that this is -- that things have completely changed now?</s>NEWMAN: They've certainly changed a lot. I mean, the tables really have turned. I mean, it seems that every time that relations between Cuba and the United States are getting better, that there's a move toward normalization, the Cuban government does something to put an end to it, to stop it. For example, back in 1994, it was the shooting down of the Brothers to the Rescue's planes by Cuban MIG fighter jets. Now, of course, it's the jailing of 75 dissidents and the execution by firing squad of three men who tried to hijack a passenger ferry. Now, each time the Cuban government says, of course, that it's responding to a provocation from the United States. But if that's the case, why then is the Castro government taking the bait? Why is it letting itself be provoked if what it really wants is a normalization with the United States? And as you say, there are a lot of people in Congress who have been pushing very, very hard against the will of the Bush administration to open up to this country and to ease travel restrictions and even trade restrictions.</s>HAYS: But so, Lucia, answer the question you're raising. What is in it for Fidel Castro? He -- it is a critical juncture. The economy is still very, very poor. You know, they just got a deal they could have made with the European Union shot down. So where does this leave Castro? And again, what is in it for him?</s>NEWMAN: Exactly. I mean, there are so many theories about that. But first, I've got to tell you, in this country for the last 44 years, people here see a conspiracy under every rug, behind every corner. And certainly people in the Cuban government see a big conspiracy brewing in the Bush administration. They're feeling very, very threatened. They've seen that the opposition movement here has been getting bigger and certainly bolder. Although they say that really people here don't really care, that the majority of Cubans are in favor of the revolution, that is something they feel threatened about. They also feel threatened by the Bush administration's bolder position to support the opposition in this country. And so, there are many here who say that what President Castro really wants is to have a meaner, stronger enemy just across the Florida Straits to justify and diffuse attention away from the problems in this country. Because there are a lot of people that are sick and tired of waiting for an improvement in the economy, and for -- to have more freedoms to do what they want of course.</s>SNOW: When I was there, Lucia, people were often scared -- and I know you know this better than anyone -- people were scared to talk to us. And I'm sure you struggle with this as the bureau chief there. Are people more scared even now, with what's just happened?</s>NEWMAN: Well, I can tell you, when you were last here, people were reluctant to talk to us, but they were opening up. I mean, people were loosening up in this country. The opposition certainly felt a lot freer to speak and organize. Now, since they were -- since this crackdown began, and since the government revealed very openly and very deliberately that it had spies not only in the opposition movement but all around, people are much, much more reluctant to say what they really think. They're feeling frightened and intimidated.</s>ARENA: Lucia, what's your sense at this point? Will diplomacy work? Will the threat that relations will not get better economically work? Where do we go from here?</s>NEWMAN: Well, you know, I really think the ball is now in Washington's court, because if the idea was to go back to the old Cold War mentality, we can have one of two things. The Bush administration can go ahead with what it's saying. They want to review its policy toward Cuba. There's been talk even of cutting of remittances to Cubans here sent by Cuban Americans in the United States. That's a lot of money, and that would certainly make the Americans look like the bad guys again. Or, as others in Congress are saying, let's not give President Castro what he perhaps wants, and that is to keep isolating Cuba. But on the contrary, it's time to continue with some kind of dialogue and some kind of attempt to open up toward this country so that they don't isolate the Cuban people and also the Cuban dissidents and everybody else who wants some sort of a change here.</s>HAYS: Well, and unfortunately, it's time for us to say goodbye to you. Thank you for joining us today, Lucia. Appreciate it. We know you have to get back on the story. And of course, what are you going to be watching for?</s>NEWMAN: Well, certainly we want to go talk to more ordinary people, to Cubans now, and see what it is that they're feeling. Do they really think now that there is a threat of an American military invasion, some Iraq-style move against this country, as the government here is saying?</s>HAYS: OK. Lucia Newman, from Havana, thank you very much. From a controlled economy to the wild ride of U.S. capitalism, where, once again, the number of jobs, and that means paychecks, went down last month. We're back on the story in just a moment.