President Bush says U.S. sanctions on Cuba will stay in place until Cuban leader Fidel Castro implements wide-ranging reforms. In speeches in Washington and Miami, Bush challenged the Castro government to allow free and fair elections and liberalize the Cuban economy. 

In a part of Miami called "Little Havana," the president vowed to keep the sanctions in place until Cuba is free. Bush said, "We are here today to proclaim loudly and clearly to the entire world that the Cuban people's love of liberty cannot and will not be denied." 

The crowd roared its approval as the president called Fidel Castro a tyrant who jails or exiles anyone who challenges his rule. Speaking on Cuban Independence Day, Bush said Cuba must not only be independent, Cuba must be free. 

"One hundred years ago," he said, "Cuba declared her independence and nearly fifty years ago — nearly a half-century ago — Cuba's independence and the hopes for democracy were hijacked by a brutal dictator who cares only for his own power and 'nada' [not at all] for the Cuban people." 

The president moving from English to Spanish and back again in his speech said the leader of Communist Cuba must show the world that he is serious about reforms and bettering the lives of all Cubans. 

Bush called on the Castro government to hold free and fair elections, release political prisoners, permit opposition parties and independent trade unions, and adopt market reforms. "Full normalization of relations with Cuba, diplomatic recognition, open trade and a robust aid program, will only be possible when Cuba has a new government that is fully democratic, when the rule of law is respected, when the Cuban rights of all Cubans are protected," he continued. 

But the president said that while he keeps pressure on Fidel Castro, he will do all he can to help the Cuban people. He said he would facilitate shipments of aid through non-governmental organizations, and would take steps to resume mail service between Cuba and the United States. "We hurt for the people in Cuba," he said. "We long for a day when they realize the same freedoms we have here in America." 

The president's reaffirmation of his hardline anti-Castro stand followed a trip to Cuba by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter. During his visit, Carter 
 

White House officials insist the speeches in Washington and Miami were planned months ago, long before Jimmy Carter announced he would go to Havana. The former president's trip highlighted the trade issue, but the dispute over Cuba sanctions has been going on for some time, with moves in Congress to ease the ban on shipments of certain goods. 

While in Florida, President Bush stressed he would veto any effort in Congress to ease the four decades old trade sanctions. 

Florida played a key role in the 2000 U.S. presidential election. The Cuban-American community is very active politically and usually votes Republican. Their support could be crucial to the re-election campaign of Gov. Jeb Bush, the president's younger brother. And President Bush will need them should he run for a second term in office in 2004. 
 
 

Democrats unhappy
with U.S. embargo

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. lawmakers, mostly Democrats, are criticizing President Bush's determination to maintain the U.S. embargo on Communist-led Cuba and are vowing to change Washington's policy toward Havana. 

Sen. Chris Dodd, a Democrat of Connecticut, chairman of the subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, noted growing support in Congress for easing the four-decades-old embargo against Havana. He said his panel would open hearings next month on changing U-S policy toward Cuba.

Dodd welcomed former president Jimmy Carter's call, made during a visit to Cuba last week, to lift the U.S. embargo and allow Americans to travel freely to the island.

Dodd spoke as President Bush reiterated he would continue the embargo on Cuba until Cuban leader Fidel Castro implements tough political and economic reforms.

Dodd said Bush's determination to continue the embargo shows the president is out of step with the Congress and the people they represent.

Brazil is carrying out large-scale military maneuvers along its northern border with Colombia in the Amazon basin. The maneuvers, which began Monday, are the largest ever in the region. 

Some 4,000 Brazilian soldiers are taking part in the operation along with planes, helicopters, and river boats. 

A Defense Ministry statement says the military exercises, known as Operation "Tapuru," are the largest ever in the region and are aimed at strengthening security along the border with Colombia. 

The maneuvers, which include the Army, Air Force, and Navy, are taking place in a 252,000 square kilometer area which is sparsely populated and covered by rainforest. 

The commander of the operation, Gen. Valdesio Guilherme de Figueiredo, says the exercises will help strengthen command-and-control and communications capabilities between the three services. 

The Defense Ministry says the decision to hold these maneuvers was made in December, and are not in response to the increased conflict in neighboring Colombia between the government and leftist guerrillas. However, Brazilian officials have in the past expressed concern over possible incursions by the rebels into Brazilian territory as well as drug-trafficking activities in the region. 

 The military exercises, which began on Monday, will end next Friday.

Investigators said that an 18-year-old woman who died from a gunshot wound last April 14 was the victim of an accident.

The shooting happened in the pool area of a hotel in Jacó. Agents said at the time the woman, Karen Paniaguas Espinoza of Santa Barbara de Heredia, probably was struck down by a stray bullet.

However, Monday they said that death was due to a self-inflicted, accidental wound to the chest. Agents from the Judicial Investigating Organization said the woman was carrying a handgun in a bag. When she put her clothes and the bag on the concrete, the weapon discharged, they said.

The handgun was the property of a friend, and the woman was carrying it for him, agents said.

14 leave Guatemalan jail

The Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto said that 13 Costa Ricans and a Colombian refugee with residency here are out of jail after being grabbed in Guatemala City for frequenting a betting establishment.

The arrests happened Friday about midday, and the individuals were released Sunday after posting individual appearance bonds of about 50,000 colons (about $141) each, said a ministry spokesman.

The 14 persons were said to be tourists, and they told the diplomat that they were unaware that the place they were arrested was engaged in gambling.

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