DATE=05/13/02

TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP

TITLE=BIO-TERRORISM IN CUBA ALLEGED

NUMBER=6-125667

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=Washington

INTERNET=YES

EDITOR=Assignments

TELEPHONE=619-3335

INTRO: Many of Monday's U-S daily papers include a color photo of Cuban President Fidel Castro welcoming former U-S President Jimmy Carter to Havana. Mr. Carter is the first former or current U-S president to visit Cuba since Mr. Castro seized power more than 40 years ago.

Now, with a sampling of editorial comment on the visit, here is ____________ with today's U-S Opinion Roundup.

TEXT: U-S relations with Cuba have been strained since Fidel Castro took power and turned Cuba into a hard-line communist state. For decades he was backed by the Soviet Union, but when it collapsed the island fell on hard economic times.

Recently, many U-S newspapers and business organizations have called for an end to the U-S economic embargo against Cuba suggesting it is no longer effective. However, the Bush administration has shown no inclination toward improving relations.

Shortly before Mr. Carter embarked on his visit, U-S Undersecretary of State for Arms Control John Bolton accused the Castro government of developing biological weapons and providing sensitive technology to rogue nations. Critics suggested Mr. Bolton was trying to dampen enthusiasm for the visit.

Beginning in South Carolina, we read in Charleston's Post and Courier:

VOICE: The timing may seem suspicious and the charge is not new, but the statement by the U-S undersecretary of state for arms control, that the Castro regime has developed bioweapons, is deadly serious. … John Bolton put a stamp of official approval on what Cuban exiles and a prominent Russian scientist, who defected from the Soviet Union, have been saying for years: "The United States believes that Cuba has at least a limited offensive biological warfare research and development effort," he said, adding that [Mr.] Castro has "provided dual-use biotechnology to other rogue states."

That indictment came as former President Jimmy Carter was packing his bags to visit Cuba … The speech undoubtedly constitutes a warning shot across the bow of any Castro-Carter love boat [Editors: slang for "a warning to Mr. Carter not to get to friendly with Cuba."]

TEXT: The views of Charleston's Post and Courier in South Carolina. In Eastern Pennsylvania, however Allentown's Morning Call cannot help but be skeptical about the timing of Secretary Bolton's pronouncement.

VOICE: There is no question Cuba is one of only a handful of developing nations playing a significant role in drug and biotechnology developments. … But this is the first time an American official has accused Cuba of providing germs for war to rogue nations, and the timing of Mr. Bolton's statements is suspicious. First, it included no substantiating evidence. Also, it occurred as former President Jimmy Carter prepares to leave for Cuba in an attempt to improve relations. Mr. Carter believes, and we agree, that the trade embargo, imposed when President John F. Kennedy occupied the Oval Office, has hurt … the Cuban people more than its communist government.

As long as the Bush administration can't produce more convincing evidence that Cuba is providing duel-use technology to rogue states, we still believe engagement with Cuba … is preferable to continued isolation.

TEXT: Excerpts from an editorial in The Allentown Morning Call. More skepticism comes from the big Midwestern daily, the Chicago Tribune which says in part, while they "could be plausible,"

VOICE: … such accusations - - particularly when offered without a shred of proof or elaboration - - sound like another tedious episode in the war of words between the two countries. Coming days before former President Jimmy Carter is to go to Cuba, and amid growing congressional sentiment to life trade restrictions against the island, this latest round of charges beings to look like a political stunt.

… Unless one assumes [President] Castro and those around him have lost their minds and plan some sort of national kamikaze mission, it's tough to imagine why Cuba would embark on such a course. CNN comes in loud and clear in Havana, and so have the images of the devastation American military power has inflicted on Afghanistan, halfway around the world. Sitting just 90 miles away, U-S response to any Cuban aggression would be just as deadly and that much quicker. If anything, in recent months [Mr.] Castro has been a model of good behavior.

… There is evidence, however, to suggest domestic politics are again driving American policy toward Cuba. Governor Jeb Bush is running for re-election in Florida, and there is nothing like stoking the flames of anti-Castro sentiment in Dade County to secure the Cuban-American vote. And nothing like a new "threat" to justify continued hostility toward Cuba.

TEXT: In the Southwest, The Dallas [Texas] Morning News greets the accusation warily.

VOICE: The accusation was a bombshell because the United States never had accused Cuba of using its extensive biotechnology industry as a cover for biological arms and because … the administration has become intolerant of countries that both possess weapons of mass destruction and sponsor terrorism. … Carried to its logical extreme, the accusation would appear to leave Cuba open to invasion by the United States.

… But Cuba experts in the United States are greeting the accusation with warranted skepticism. … The administration should present supporting evidence without compromising intelligence sources. … It should [also] tell Americans why they should not consider the accusation an attempt to attract Cuban-American political support and to bolster Mr. Bush's right wing.

TEXT: Thoughts from The Dallas Morning News.

Today's last word goes to The Miami Herald, which always has something thoughtful to say on U-S Cuban relations and this time, takes the warning to heart.

VOICE: … what John Bolton … revealed … comes as little surprise to Cuba watchers in South Florida. Although Mr. Bolton's remarks were based on recently declassified secret information, the ideas aren't new. Mr. Boston disclosed the U-S belief that, "Cuba has at least a limited offensive biological warfare research and development effort." He also added that "Cuba has provided dual-use biotechnology to rogue states. We are concerned that such technology could support bio-weapons programs in those states."

Yet Cuban defectors and analysts, many of whom have spoken openly here, long have described the sophisticated capabilities of the regime's biomedical activities and speculated on its potential military applications.

True, Cuba's potential threat has too often been underrated in Washington, and Cuban intelligence operatives … may have had much to do with that. … However, it's unlikely that the immediate security threat is anywhere close to that of the Cuban missile crisis. If the Bush administration knows of a specific danger, then it should reveal that information as well.

TEXT: On that wary note, we conclude this editorial sampling from the U-S press on new bio-terrorist allegations against Cuba.

NEB/ANG/KBK