[NYTr] Interview excerpts: Dagoberto Rodriguez, outgoing Chief of Cuban Interests Section in US
 
Date: Thu, 22 Nov 2007 19:20:05 -0600 (CST)

Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
Progreso Weekly - Nov 22, 2007
http://progreso-weekly.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=241&Itemid=1

"Our contact with thousands of Americans 
has been an enriching experience"

[Excerpts of an interview with Dagoberto RodrC-guez, chief of the Cuban
Interests Section in the United States, Oct. 30, 2007, on Edmundo
GarcC-a's radio program "The Night Moves" (12-1 a.m.,, 9-10 p.m.,
Mon.-Fri.). Ambassador RodrC-guez will leave his post in Washington at
the end of this year.]

EDMUNDO GARCIA: The vote at the United Nations was historical,
rejecting the embargo imposed on Cuba by the United States. Only the
Palau and Marshall Islands, Israel and the United States voted in
favor, whereas 184 votes condemned this U.S. policy against Cuba that
has lasted more than 45 years. How do the Cuban authorities (and you in
particular) interpret this vote in New York City, attended by Cuban
Foreign Minister Felipe PC)rez Roque?

DAGOBERTO RODRIGUEZ: I believe that both this vote and the preceding
ones, made since 1992 -- this is vote number 16 -- show the world's
overwhelming rejection of this genocidal policy carried out by the
government of the United States against Cuba. And I don't say that it's
just against the Cuban people on the island; I believe that in many
ways it's against the Cubans who live here in the United States, and in
general against all the men and women in the world who believe in
links, in relations, in human communications. What this vote
demonstrates is the fact that the United States is simply isolated in
its policy toward Cuba.

GARCIA: How is it that Cuba managed to get this massive international
support in the seat of the United Nations, New York?

RODRIGUEZ: It has a lot to do with the prestige garnered by Cuba; with
a [Cuban] foreign policy that overflows the geographic dimensions of
the island; with a foreign policy that is based on cooperation, on
friendship, on good relations, trade, peace. Secondly, it has to do
with the correctness of our position. In recent weeks, we have
explained to world nations the consequences of the U.S. policy, which
is not an invention of ours but a reality that other nations also
suffer.

We're not lying when we say that 20 international banks have received
threats from the United States or have received gigantic fines from
U.S. authorities because they have some sort of relationship with Cuba.
We're not making it up when we say that companies in third countries --
U.S. subsidiaries -- have been fined or have been prohibited from
maintaining relations with Cuba.

It becomes ridiculous when, for example, companies as important as the
Hilton [hotel] chain is forbidden to provide accommodations to Cubans
who attend an international event in Sweden, Norway or any other
country in Europe or the rest of the world. Pharmaceutical companies
are forbidden to sell medicine to save the lives of children in Cuba.
In effect, what we have done is to speak the truth and convey that
truth to the other countries. And I believe that the fact is that the
world is against a policy that is directed precisely to make people
suffer.

GARCIA: It is powerfully noteworthy that some allies of the United
States, such as the former Eastern bloc republics -- the Czech
Republic, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Latvia, etc. -- which
have adopted aggressive stances against Cuba, and who have even
participated in an aggressive foreign policy toward Cuba, did not vote
at the United Nations for the embargo, alongside the United States.

RODRIGUEZ: The only explanation is that the United States suffers from
a total lack of credit, which is demonstrated by the vote of those
countries with the trajectory you mentioned. But those [governments]
that respect themselves a little are clearly trying to stand back from
such an overwhelming vote. The [U.S.] policy is universally viewed as
genocide; it is directed at trying to exterminate a country through
hunger and disease, and it is very difficult -- even for countries as
closely allied to the U.S., as these countries are -- to support it.

GARCIA: I was struck by the fact that El Salvador abstained, that it
didn't support the American position, despite the fact that its
president and the previous president marched in locked step with all
expressions of foreign policy made by U.S. administrations. 

RODRIGUEZ: It's for the same reason. That is a policy of the United
States alone, and particularly of this administration.

GARCIA: How do you view this vote, in terms of the speech made by
President George W. Bush at the State Department, where he talked about
the creation of a multinational fund led by the United States and
summoned the international community to what he called "the
transition," meaning a transformation toward democracy in Cuba?

RODRIGUEZ: I think it has a direct relations to the stance of the
United States. Bush's speech on Oct. 24 was in no way directed at the
world, although he tried to portray it in that manner and said it was
directed at Cuba and other countries, to find support for U.S. policy
toward Cuba. I think the speech was directed at a small segment of the
Cuban community, but not even the Cuban community in the United States.
I think it was a speech written for and directed at the terrorist far
right in Miami.

GARCIA: I was struck when President Bush said in his speech that no
doubt the Cubans in Cuba were listening to him in hiding, through Radio
and TV MartC- and putting their lives in danger, because when more than
three people gather in Cuba they are risking their lives, and they were
further risking their lives by listening to his call for an uprising,
not for stability. He tried to show that people were listening to him
while hiding "under a rock." However, Cuba reacted and printed the text
of the speech on the main communications media, rebroadcast it on Cuban
television and published it in the daily Granma.

RODRIGUEZ: The people who wrote his speech (and I think there may have
been some input from his acolytes in Miami) took him for a ride. The
speech is worth publishing so the Cuban people and the whole world can
see what the true intentions of this administration are in connection
with Cuba. For us Cubans, it is a lesson in what we can expect from a
government such as the one that today mismanages the United States, and
also in what we can expect from all the Mafia and terrorist groups in
South Florida that dominate U.S. policy toward Cuba. To come up with a
speech that promotes violence, chaos and instability is something akin
to madness. This administration, and particularly this president, are
totally disconnected from reality. This is a pathological case.

GARCIA: I understand that in a few weeks you will finish your tour of
duty in Washington, after six years of representing Cuban diplomacy in
the United States. After this experience, what conclusions will you
carry with you?

RODRIGUEZ: Two things, Edmundo. On one hand, our contact with thousands
of Americans has been an enriching experience. We in Cuba differentiate
between the American people and the government. So, this experience has
been positive. It is something that I have really enjoyed. I have
sensed in the American people a growing desire to build bridges of
communication with Cuba, with the Cuban people.

Our official relationship with the U.S. government has been really
frustrating. We're looking at an administration that is absolutely
ignorant of history in general and Cuba-U.S. history in particular, and
is absolutely unwilling to achieve a more constructive relationship.
I'm not even talking about normalizing relations with Cuba; only about
having a more constructive relationship.

The arrogance of this administration rises to unexpected levels and I
think that damages the U.S. tremendously, not only in its relationship
with Cuba but also in its relationship with the world. The discredit of
the United States, the unpopularity of this administration throughout
the world is well known. The fact that Bush enjoys only a 25-percent
approval rate in the United States is no surprise. Throughout the world
that percentage of approval is a lot, a lot lower. And that's the
result of a warmongering policy and a clumsy policy.

GARCIA: And what have you learned from this relationship with the
Americans and the Cubans who have tried to achieve a better
relationship with Cuba? In the case of the latter, the Interests
Section you represent is, in effect, a doorway.

RODRIGUEZ: In the first place, I think that the basic lesson I will
take with me is the attitude of Cuba and Cubans throughout history --
and I'm not limiting it to a specific historical period -- to defend
their independence and their sovereignty, the ability of Cubans
wherever they are to be proud of their homeland. I think those are the
basic elements to engage in a new relationship with the United States.

We demand respect, even though we are small, economically poor or weak
or whatever you want to call it. We are an island filled with pride of
what we are, pride in our culture, and I think that's the secret to
achieve a different communication with the United States. Culture has a
fundamental weight. In that sense, I feel that our differences with the
United States are not related only to the policies of today, tomorrow
or yesterday. They have to do with two different visions of the world,
which go back 200 years.

GARCIA: How do you see the relationship of us Cubans who live outside
Cuba with our native country? Although many of us have ideological or
conceptual differences, we still feel true love for our homeland, a
true feeling of belonging to our cultural identity, regardless of the
fact that we only represent the interests of our own family. From that
viewpoint, how do you see that relationship with the passing of time?

RODRIGUEZ: That relationship is not only useful but also necessary. It
is an indispensable relationship. Any nation or country is composed of
all those who live and grow within its territory. Of course, also of
those people who at one time or other, looking for a better life or
whatever reason, left the country, crossed its borders, but kept their
hearts inside it. This is an indispensable relationship that,
unfortunately in the case of Cuba, has been totally distorted by a
stupid policy that tends to separate families, to separate persons.
Once these barriers are lowered, the final outcome will be a stronger
nation, one that's better prepared to deal with future challenges.

GARCIA: Do you foresee a Cuban consulate in Miami, Washington or any
other U.S. city, with a Cuban Embassy that represents us, our problems,
our situations? [A diplomatic mission] for all us Cubans who live
outside Cuba, even though politically we may not identify with the
official position of the Cuban government?

RODRIGUEZ: Absolutely, Edmundo. What happens today is totally abnormal.
The difficulties and the problems Cubans have to do consular
procedures, to maintain a connection with their homeland is totally
unusual. No other country faces anything like it. No citizen of any
other country suffers anything like it in the United States. However,
in the midst of this situation, due to U.S. regulations, we can
maintain only one consular office and it must be here in Washington.

This poses many obstacles and difficulties for Cubans, but even so, let
me tell you that we shall finish this year with more than 350,000
consular procedures. I'm talking about a huge percentage of that
community that -- although they have no chance to travel to Cuba, to
have a normal relationship with Cuba -- are interested in maintaining
those ties in a practical manner and want to be ready for the day when
these insane restrictions are lifted and they can travel, and even to
invite a relative [in Cuba] to travel [to the United States.]

Of course, Miami desperately needs to have a consular office where
Cubans can do their paperwork. Other offices should exist where large
communities of Cubans exist, such as New Jersey, New York, California
and many other cities.

GARCIA: Speaking of consular procedures, on a scale of zero to 10, how
would you (as chief of mission) rate the efficiency of those consular
procedures?

RODRIGUEZ: It is very difficult to rate them, because it is an abnormal
situation for us, a situation affected by many factors. Normally, when
a country has 10, 12 or 15 consular offices in the United States, all
that work becomes a lot easier. In our case, everything depends on a
long chain and we can't predict where the obstacles or delays will
occur.

A person has to go to a travel agency to begin to do the paperwork. The
paperwork has to be mailed to our office in Washington. Many times, the
process has to go to Havana and then come back. That implies that there
are moments with high peaks of proceedings, there is a greater delay.
In addition, we are not authorized by the [U.S.] Department of State to
bring more personnel to do the necessary paperwork.

For example, today (this morning I checked) a good many of the consular
procedures are taking between 15 days and one month. 

GARCIA: People complain that some consular procedures are very
expensive for Cubans, that the passport is very expensive, that
everything is expensive.

RODRIGUEZ: True, but if you look around, these procedures are very
expensive throughout the world. Right here in the United States, we
know how much it costs an immigrant to go through all the legalization
and naturalization steps. It is extremely expensive. The political
factor makes all this even more difficult. If Miami had a Cuban
consulate, you wouldn't have to go to any travel agency to do the
paperwork. There would be no additional charges, you wouldn't have to
spend money in postage. Of course everything would be cheaper. But in
general I agree with you: these procedures are really expensive.

GARCIA: In conclusion, do you believe that, as Cuba-U.S. relations
normalize, Cubans will find the reduced paperwork brings them more
relief and satisfaction?

RODRIGUEZ: Definitely, and there will be modifications to the present
regulations, such as have been made in the field of customs. I am not a
specialist, but I've read about them. These modifications have been,
for a long time, the aspirations of many Cubans who live abroad,
particularly of Cuban-Americans, who want to have normal relations with
their family and Cuba. By listening to that dialogue throughout the
years, and despite the difficulties, we have made modifications and
will continue to make them. I have no doubt that that will happen.

GARCIA: One final question. Can you tell us who will be the next chief
of the Cuban Interests Section in the United States, or is it too early
to ask you?

RODRIGUEZ: The next chief will be Jorge BolaC1os.

GARCIA: Isn't he the current Cuban ambassador in Mexico?

RODRIGUEZ: Yes, he was in Mexico until a few months ago. He will be the
next chief of the Cuban Interests Section.

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