国会记录：2002年2月27日（参议院）第S1241-S1244此次拉美之行幽灵先生。主席先生，我想在此次拉美之行，我上个月在参议院走进会议在1月份的报告简要介绍。此行带我去了一些拉丁美洲国家的讨论贸易和毒品管制的问题。金博宝正规网址在[[页S1242]的第一站是在古巴哈瓦那，在那里我有机会跟总统菲德尔·卡斯特罗对古巴人权被剥夺的严峻形势，以及有关在古巴未能有选战。我敦促卡斯特罗主席在有竞逐选举中运行。我有机会与卡斯特罗主席大约30个月前相遇在1999年6月和由相同点给他。然而，强调，再次，当我质疑卡斯特罗总统对有人在有竞逐的选举跑，他告诉我，他确实有一个对手。他的对手是美利坚合众国。他更多的是幽默的方式说这话。美国对古巴的政策，我想，往往使，如果不是很烈士，至少一个有同情心的人在卡斯特罗主席。 We talked about a great many things. With my background as assistant counsel of the Warren Commission, I asked President Castro if there was any connection between Lee Harvey Oswald and Cuba. There had been rumors at the time that Castro and Cuban officials may have put Oswald up to the assassination of President Kennedy. Those rumors were based upon the CIA efforts to assassinate Castro in that era. Oswald was a part of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, which had a rally in New Orleans. When I asked that of President Castro, he said he was not responsible for Oswald. He was a Marxist, and not a madman. We talked in some detail about the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 and why Castro permitted the Soviets to have missiles in Cuba. He tried to defend that, I think unpersuasively, with the threats to himself from the Bay of Pigs invasion and the CIA assassination attempts. Before going to see him 30 months ago, I checked with the records of the Church Committee, and found, in fact, that there was evidence about efforts to assassinate Castro--maybe 8 or 9 such attempts. When I told Castro that number, he laughed, and said that there had been many, many more attempts than that--something in the 300 range. I asked him how it felt to be the subject of assassination attempts. He said: Muy bien. This is Spanish for "very good." I said: No, no. How did it really feel when they were trying to assassinate you? Again, he said: Muy bien. I said: No. How did it really feel? He said: Do you have a sport? I said: Yes. My sport is squash. He said, through the interpreter: Well, avoiding assassination is a sport for me. I talked to Castro in some detail about his willingness to have Cuban airspace and Cuban waters used by the United States to detect drug trafficking. Toward that end, I offered an amendment to the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill a year and a half ago, which was defeated in conference. I offered a milder bill this year which was accepted, calling for a report from the State Department. However, when Castro makes an offer to allow Cuban waters and Cuban airspace to interdict drug traffickers, that is an offer we ought to accept. Drugs are polluting a generation of Americans and they are a major cause of street crime in America, which is something that I fought against as District Attorney of Philadelphia. If we can stop the flow of drugs with Castro's assistance, we ought to take him up on that offer. There have been some changes in U.S. policy toward Cuba. The House of Representatives submitted a bill with a provision to ease travel restrictions, which was dropped in conference. It is my view that it is a very small step which ought to be uncontested. We then traveled to other Latin American countries. We were in Argentina, where it is well-known that there is a tremendous financial crisis. Argentina has lived beyond its means. They have the inability to pay major suppliers, after having talked to major U.S. firms, such as Exxon-Mobil, IBM, and General Motors. They cannot withdraw money from their bank accounts to pay their suppliers. The International Monetary Fund is working on the matter. It would be my hope that the United States would provide some leadership and some expertise to try to bring Argentina out of this economic crisis. I think a good bit of the record from the United States and the International Monetary Fund has been too harsh. I think we can make our point without language which borders on arrogance or borders on insults because Argentina is a very important country in Latin America. One of the problems with Latin America is the frequency of the dictatorships, such as Juan Peron in Argentina, as well as those in Chile and Brazil. It is just a way of life there. Trade with the United States, I think, is very important to promote democracy. In Peru there was great concern regarding the trade agreement with the United States that had lapsed in December. It is my hope that this trade bill will be acted upon by the Congress at an early date. In Chile they are waiting for a trade bill to be enacted, with some ten rounds of negotiations. The President of Chile is willing to have an agreement, even if it is not fast tracked, and even if there would be amendments offered on the floor of the Senate or the House of Representatives. In Uruguay we met with the distinguished President Jorge Batlle. We have a very distinguished U.S. Ambassador there, Martin Silverstein, a Pennsylvanian. We took a look at the coastline, with the attractive apartment houses in Montevideo. Uruguay is quite a contrast to the barren coastline of Havana, Cuba, showing what free enterprise and democracy can do if it is permitted to operate. Mr. President, I would just like to add another comment or two about Brazil, where we met with the equivalent of our National Security Adviser. There is a little area where Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina meet where there are supporters of Hezbollah posing quite a threat to that area. In Buenos Aires, we met at the Jewish Community Center with leading Jewish officials there and were told, in detail, about the bombing of the Jewish Community Center in 1994 and the attack on the Israeli Embassy. I was pleased to note that the Brazilian officials are looking into this issue as to the potential terrorist activity arising out of this group in that little section where Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina meet. On January 2, 2002, we arrived in Havana, Cuba for two days of meetings with human rights activists, religious leaders, medical researchers, our U.S. country team, and President Fidel Castro. When we arrived in Cuba, we were met by the U.S. country team, who briefed us on the current situation in Cuba. We began by meeting with a delegation of human rights activists, all of whom had been jailed during the Castro regime on various charges. When asked why he was jailed, one of the dissidents, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas, President of the Christian Liberation Movement, expressed the general sentiment of the group that he was jailed for the anti-Castro opinions he publicly expressed. When I asked them their opinion on the embargo, the group of Cuban dissidents was split on the advisability of continuing the U.S. embargo with Cuba. Next we traveled to the Finlay Institute in Havana, a research center dedicated to the development and testing of vaccines. Our briefing on the Finlay Institute's work was conducted by a team of researchers including Dr. Concepcion Campa, Director of the Institute and leader of the team that developed the vaccine for meningitis B. Supported entirely by the Cuban government, the Finlay Institute, which I had previously visited in June 1999, is one of the forty-five biotechnology facilities supported by government funds. The Cuban government has demonstrated a commitment to medical research and cooperative agreements, such as the one the Finlay Institute entered into with GlaxoSmithKline in 1999, licensed by the U.S. Treasury Department. This agreement represents a positive and productive relationship with this ostracized nation. The next morning we met with a delegation of Cuban officials, including the Minister of Justice Roberto Sotolongo and Oliverio Montalvo, the Drug Enforcement Chief. Minister Sotolongo responded to my question regarding the advisability of cooperation between the U.S. and Cuba on the drug issues with his hope that the issue not be politicized. He further stated that exchanges of information between the U.S. and Cuba could net real results in preventing drugs from entering [[Page S1243]] the U.S. through this region. The Ministers wanted us to know that Cuba is actively involved in intercepting and destroying contraband found in Cuban waters en route to the U.S. and elsewhere. Minister Sotolongo detailed the 1996 incident involving the Limerick, a successful joint U.S.-Cuba drug interdiction operation. The Limerick, carrying 6.5 tons of cocaine drifted into Cuban waters and was impounded. All the evidence was turned over to the United States, and those involved were tried and convicted in a court with the participation of Cuban officials. Our time in Cuba concluded with a meeting with President Fidel Castro, which lasted six and one-half hours. Many issues were discussed, including our earlier meeting with the dissidents. President Castro did not directly respond to the merits of the dissidents' issues, but chose instead to reprimand our congressional delegation for holding meetings independent of the schedule that his functionaries had in mind for us. We flatly rejected his objection. Our conversation with President Castro began with a wide-ranging discussion on drug interdiction. President Castro suggested a formal relationship with the U.S. in order to make progress on drug interdiction efforts in the area. This was a suggestion made to me by General Barry McCaffrey, former head of U.S. drug policy in the previous administration. When asked if he wanted the embargo against Cuba lifted, President Castro responded, "Can you doubt that?" We spoke of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on America and President Castro was asked to condemn Osama bin Laden. While making general statements against terrorism, President Castro would not condemn bin Laden, feigning a lack of evidence in his possession to make such a condemnation. The President also offered that he had not heard of Osama bin Laden prior to September 11, 2001 incidents and closed our meeting with a call for a bilateral agreement with Cuba to fight terrorism. As we arrived in Cuba, the United States' decision to transfer detainees from Afghanistan to Guantanamo Bay was being announced publicly. President Castro had issued a press release saying that the Government of Cuba had too little information to comment on the U.S. plan to use Guantanamo Bay for Afghan detainees. At the news conference on January 4, 2002, before our departure, I was asked about the issue and said that my apprisal was that President Castro was not going to object to the U.S. plan to use Guantanamo Bay because if he had an objection, he would have already expressed it. My meetings with President Castro, religious leaders, human rights activists, and medical researchers lead me to believe that we must continue to support and expand our people-to-people relationships with Cuba. There are many areas of mutual concern between our two countries, including drug interdiction and medical research. On January 4, 2002, Senator Chafee and I traveled to Lima, Peru and were met by Ambassador John Hamilton. Our meeting with President Alejandro Toledo included Foreign Minister Diego Garcia Sayan, First Vice President and Minister of Industry and Trade Raul Diez Canseco, Trade Vice Minister Alfredo Ferrero, and drug czar Ricardo Vega Llona. We first exchanged welcoming statements and our expressions of sympathy to Peru for the tragedy that took place just a week before our arrival in downtown Lima. A fire, stemming from fireworks, had set ablaze a shopping district and killed over 250, according to reports at that time. The President made clear his desire for a renewed and expanded Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA) and for continued assistance in combating the drug trade. President Toledo expressed concern that the trade agreement between the United States and Peru had lapsed on December 4, 2001, and urged that the Congress give it prompt consideration. He said that Peruvian farmers would be tempted to grow products for drug production instead of textile production, if the agreement was not extended. I told him I would urge prompt consideration by the Congress. The President and Ministers made the case that eliminating the coca trade in Peru is essential to combat terrorism, and spoke strongly to the elimination of the narco-terrorism as a "matter of national security." With regards to the general state of the Peruvian economy, the President reported that they were coming off of three years of little or no growth, further reporting that the Peruvian economy is affected by the overall world economy. Senator Chafee and I were further debriefed on the state of the Peruvian economy by the Minister of Economy and Finance Pedro Pablo Kuczynski. The President further described his "full commitment" to reform of the Peruvian judicial system. In a separate meeting, I queried the drug czar and his colleagues further on the progress of the drug war in Peru and the region. There was general agreement with my point that progress is difficult without a reduction in the demand for drugs. Meeting participants reiterated the need for the Andean anti-drug plan, which offers increased intelligence sharing, regional air coverage, and maritime cooperation among the Andean nations. Further, it was emphasized that an alternative crop or industry to drug crops was essential for local farmers. From Lima, Peru, Senator Chafee and I traveled to Santiago, Chile on January 6, 2002. After our meeting with President Ricardo Lagos, I wrote a letter to President Bush and Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill expressing President Lagos' strong support for the U.S.-Chile Bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) without linkage to passage by the U.S. Congress of trade promotion authority. President Lagos expressed his concern that ongoing congressional negotiations with the White House regarding trade promotion authority may further delay consideration of the Bilateral FTA with Chile. The President further stated that Chile wants "trade not aid." Additional topics discussed included the potential F-16 sale to Chile, as well as the Pinochet and Letelier/Moffit cases. On December 27, 2000, the Chilean Ministry of Defense announced that the Government of Chile had authorized the Chilean Air Force to initiate discussions on the purchase of ten Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcons, Block 50, from the United States. The F-16 was chosen over the French Mirage and the Swedish Gripen on its merits in a competitive, transparent selection process. Regarding the Letelier/Moffit case, which involved the 1976 car bomb murder in Washington, D.C. of former Chilean Ambassador the U.S. Orlando Letelier and his American citizen assistant, Ronnie Moffit. I told the President that the jail sentences of six, seven, and eight years, which were given to those involved in this terrorist act on U.S. soil, were not sufficient in my opinion and asked his opinion on the extradition of those individuals to the U.S. for trial. President Lagos responded that he cannot take a position that would appear to pressure the Court, but that his impression was such that the Court, on its own, might well order extradition. Concerning counter-terrorism and the events of September 11, 2001, the President expressed strong condemnation of the terrorist attacks. This expression is in keeping the Lagos Administration's action immediately following the terrorist attacks in the U.S. As head of the RIO Group of Latin American countries in 2001, Chile leads the coordinated counter-terrorism efforts for the Group. On January 8, 2002, Senator Chafee and I arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, just one week after the latest President was installed during this tumultuous time in that country. Newly-installed President Eduardo Duhalde, the fifth president in thirteen days, is confronted with a bankrupt government and a citizenry deeply dispirited after four years of a worsening economy and recent political instability. It is unclear at this time if this administration is capable, or willing, to put together a viable long-term economic plan to pull Argentina out of its very serious economic situation. President Duhalde told us that his administration would have a new budget passed within fifteen days with a plan to retire his country's industrial debt, which could then justify further aid from the International Monetary Fund. Corporate representatives from Bank of Boston, General Motors, IBM, and ESSO detailed the extremely difficult business environment, including [[Page S1244]] a freeze of all bank that precluded the paying of suppliers and subcontractors. This issue, along with the ongoing currency crises, made for an extremely precarious business environment as described by the executives. Senator Chafee and I visited the Jewish Community Center and the site of a 1994 terrorist attack that killed eighty-four people. Upon our arrival to the Community Center, it was explained to us that the line in front of the building was persons visiting the visa office applying for travel to Israel as an escape from the Argentine economic situation. On January 10, 2002, Senator Chafee and I proceeded next to Montevideo, Uruguay for meetings with President Jorge Batlle and the Chief of Staff and National Drug and Anti-Terrorism Coordinator Leonardo Costa. We were accompanied by Ambassador Martin Silverstein, a Pennsylvanian, who is serving with distinction. We met with President Batlle for over one and one-half hours discussing Argentina, International Patent Rights (IPR), free trade issues, and narcotics. Regarding the Argentine economic crisis, the President was generally optimistic, providing that the new government follows the programs of the newly-installed Economic Minister Jorge Lenikov. President Batlle stated that President Duhalde appeared to have a strong majority within the Parliament. On International Patent Rights, the President expressed disagreement with the U.S. Government's approach to IPR legislation. While he favors drug legalization, he would not implement such a policy without an international consensus. I took the opportunity to praise the President's support for Free Trade Area of the Americas and free trade, pointing out that this seemed to contrast with the government's unwillingness to enact a strong copyright bill, which is an essential tool for attracting investment. On January 11, 2001, we traveled to Brasilia, Brazil where our first meeting was with representatives from the Brazilian Ministry of Health to discuss the government's response to HIV and AIDS. A comprehensive presentation by Claudio Duarte da Fonseca and Rosemeire Munhoz with the Health Ministry detailed Brazil's national response to their growing numbers of HIV and AIDS cases. Governmental lead efforts include prevention campaigns, mass media campaigns, behavioral interventions, condom distribution, and a policy of universal and free-of-charge access to ARV drugs. Our meeting with General Alberto Cardoso, the counterpart to our National Security Adviser, provided assurances of cooperation from his country with the U.S. and Israel efforts to oppose financing of Hezbollah terrorism from an enclave at the border of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil. There was no reason to believe that support has come from residents of that area for the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Argentina in 1992 and the Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires in 1994. With the worldwide focus on cutting off terrorist funding, the tri-border area is under international scrutiny. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut is recognized. Mr. DODD. Mr. President, first of all, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business for 2 minutes. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________