Congressman José E. Serrano
Washington, DC – July 10, 2006 – Today, Congressman José E. Serrano responded to the latest report of the Bush Administration’s “Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba,” saying its recommendations “would be downright comical but for the potential for human suffering that they could cause.”
“Bush’s Commission on Cuba seems to come out with a new report every time there is an upcoming election here in the United States,” Serrano said. “They put these pie-in-the-sky anti-Cuba recommendations out which have no basis in fact or reality simply to please hardliners who support them politically. The recommendations would have little relevance to anything and be generally ignored if they were not such a colossal waste of taxpayers money, so imperialist in their tone and substance, and so callous with the rights of Americans.”
“But the more ominous portion of today’s report is the sections that we all know exist, but were not made public: those that deal with a potential military intervention in Cuba. I fear that those plans could involve American military intervention in Cuba’s internal affairs, which should not and cannot be part of any responsible American plan for future dealings with Cuba. We should be seeking to reassure the Cubans and the world that we have no intentions, and indeed no plans, to intervene in their nation.
“In any transition scenario, we must respect Cuba’s sovereignty and their right to determine their own future form of government. We have no direct role to play in that transition. Our role should be to keep our hands off Cuba, both now and in the future.”
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Congressman José E. Serrano has represented the Bronx in the House of Representatives since 1990.
