Word: castro
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...pressures on Castro at home have forced the Cuban leader to play a risky game. Castro's goal, argues a State Department official, "is to force us to negotiate the embargo." By threatening to swamp South Florida with another wave of refugees, Castro was gambling he could wring concessions out of the U.S. without destroying his own regime in the process. "What he's always good at is flipping things so his problem becomes someone else's," says the official. "This is his last card. He knows this is the one thing he can do to get our attention...
...officials guess as many as 3 million of Cuba's 11 million citizens would flee if promised safe passage -- an exodus that could be fatally humiliating to Castro but equally damaging to Clinton in Florida, an important re-election state. Having chided Castro for running a big prison, Clinton cannot very well tell him to keep the doors to the jail shut. But Floridians were adamant: they would not, could not bear the cost of absorbing a vast new population of exiles. Already blistered by criticism of his reversals on Haiti, Clinton needed a firm solution that would slow...
...room: there is no significant sentiment in Congress to open up immigration or lift the trade embargo on Cuba. "The solution is not for 100,000 Cubans to come to the U.S.," says New Jersey Democrat Robert Menendez, "but for one man to leave Cuba, and that is Fidel Castro." While some angry Cuban Americans took to the streets of Miami shouting, "Down with Clinton!" exile leaders like Jorge Mas Canosa, chairman of the powerful Cuban American National Foundation, lobbied the White House to keep up the pressure. The truth is that even the exiles don't want another Mariel...
...exodus follows nearly five years of increasing turmoil in Cuba after the fall of its Soviet patrons. Since 1989, imports have dropped from $8 billion to $2 billion. Last summer Castro eased a few restrictions. Possession of U.S. currency is no longer illegal, and some private employment is allowed. The timid reforms raised hopes for improved living standards. But a year later, with Castro blocking liberalization, and tensions erupting between the haves and the have-nots, refugees say hope has died. Ration books provide barely two weeks' worth of food. For the rest, families must rely on the black market...
...West. Other Cubans began to commandeer motorboats and tugboats, but the authorities gave chase and opened fire. On July 13 at least 32 people died on the tugboat Trece de Marzo after it was rammed and sunk by pursuing Cuban ships. Aug. 5 saw the largest antigovernment demonstrations since Castro came to power...