He’s Wrong on Cuba--Again

Leave it to Sen. Jesse Helms to cook up one more provocation with Cuba. He did, after all, co-sponsor the Helms-Burton law, which stiffened the embargo against Cuba by penalizing countries that trade with the island nation. Now, the North Carolina Republican has introduced a bill that would send $100 million in funding and communications equipment to opposition and dissident groups in Cuba.

Por que no? some might ask. Why not help the people of Cuba fight Fidel Castro? It is precisely because Castro is a ruthless dictator that Helms’ new initiative is so wrongheaded.

Helms says the aid would allow dissidents to communicate better with people on and off the island. We don’t believe that.

Spies with the Committee to Defend the Revolution live in every block of Havana. As soon as a new fax machine arrives at a house, a snitch will report it. The machine will end up in a government office and its intended owner in jail, at least for interrogation.

If Helms’ bill is approved by Congress, the United States will be repeating the mistake of the infamous TV Marti. Since 1990, U.S. taxpayers have been wasting $28 million a year to send a television signal that nobody in Cuba sees because the Castro regime jams it.

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) says that Helms’ proposal would be “wasting taxpayer dollars on moneys that Fidel Castro will make sure never get into the hands of average Cubans.” He says he’d prefer that the United States do something meaningful to foster democracy. So would we.