The Bush Administration's U.S. Policy toward Cuba won't change. That was the message the highest-ranking Cuban American in the U.S. administration sent today in his speech to The Council of the Americas. U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez's speech was like a slap in the face for some lawmakers and lobby groups who have churned out support for lifting U.S. sanctions against Cuba. "To those who suggest Cuba is an untapped market for U.S. goods and investors, and that lifting the embargo would be a boon to foreign trade, I submit to you that foreign businesses will not flourish on the island as long as there is an active communist regime in control. It is naïve to suggest that lifting U.S. economic sanctions would weaken the regime. We must stand firm in our rejection of the Cuban dictatorship," he said.
Gutierrez also sent a message to the hundreds of Cuban Americans seeking rights to property left in Cuba after fleeing Fidel Castro's government in 1959. The sugar baron Fanjul family, one of the most
prominent Cuban-American families seeking property restitution, is leading the pack. (Read this week's Legal Times story about the Fanjuls' quest) "We will not confiscate property or support any arbitrary claims for property." Gutierrez said.
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