BY ARGIRIS MALAPANIS AND BRIAN TAYLOR

PITTSBURGH - Recent moves by Washington to curtail the democratic rights of opponents of U.S. policy toward Cuba were a top agenda point at the meeting of the National Network On Cuba (NNOC) here September 28-29. These are part of a broader effort by the U.S. rulers to narrow the space for political and union activity by workers, immigrants, and others in the United States.

Participants in the Pittsburgh meeting discussed how NNOC affiliates and others can respond to these anti-democratic moves, which include stepped-up government intimidation of individuals who have traveled to Cuba.

In recent months, U.S. Treasury Department officials have increased threats of fines and imprisonment against people who they claim have violated existing laws and executive orders restricting travel to Cuba. FBI agents and other federal agencies have increased harassment of such individuals as well, said Andres Gómez, one of the national coordinators of the Network.

Representatives of local and national affiliates of the NNOC also discussed activities to broaden opposition to Washington's economic war on the Cuban people, which has escalated since President Clinton signed the misnamed Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act (or Helms-Burton law) in March. Some 80 people attended the gathering of the Network, a coalition of local and national groups that organize activities opposing Washington's policy toward Cuba.

The Tom Reeves defense case
"Roxbury Community College in Boston, and Professor Tom Reeves, facilitator of the RCC Caribbean Focus Program, have received harassing letters from the U.S. Treasury Department about a field study tour to Cuba in March 1996, sponsored by the college," said Carol Thomas. Thomas represented the Boston- based July 26 Coalition at the NNOC meeting.

She said the Treasury Department is demanding that Reeves turn over to the government names and other information about participants in the trip. Top figures in the school administration are threatening to fire Reeves if he does not comply. Thomas reported that an Ad Hoc RCC Cuba Tour Defense Committee has been formed to protest the government's actions and support Reeves in defending his constitutional rights in face of the demands of the federal agency.

According to a press release by the Roxbury Community College (RCC)-based defense committee, the school's Caribbean Focus Program "regularly holds accredited courses on Caribbean topics, including field study to the Caribbean." These have included classes and trips to Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. In 1995, the program offered the first course on Cuba, followed by a study tour of the country in March of this year.

"Application was made to the U.S. Treasury Department for permits for a total of 17 participants in the tour," Thomas said. The Treasury Department granted licenses to one professor and five full-time RCC and Tufts University students. Thomas explained that 11 others - part-time students who included teachers, social workers, church representatives, and health- care professionals -re-applied under a provision of the regulations allowing research by community organizations with an established interest in Cuba. "Telephone conversations with Treasury officials just prior to the tour indicated that the application was under consideration and that licenses might be granted retroactively," Thomas said.

Upon returning from the trip, participants issued a report that condemned the U.S. embargo on Cuba and urged wider contacts between Cubans and Americans, especially young people.

The RCC Caribbean Focus Program has also been the host of the Faculty-Student Cuban Youth Lectures Committee, and Reeves is on the board of that group. The Lectures Committee had sponsored three successful speaking tours of Cuban youth leaders between 1992 and 1995. The group had invited two Cuban youth to visit the United States and speak on campuses at the beginning of this year. The State Department turned down the visa requests of the two Cuban youth, however, despite the fact they had received invitations from dozens of professors in 73 universities and colleges across the country.

Treasury sends threatening letter
Soon after the March study trip Reeves received a letter from the Treasury Department saying there is "reason to believe that a number of unauthorized individuals participated in the Field Study." The letter pointed out that "criminal penalties for violation of [federal] Regulations range up to 10 years in prison, and $1 million in corporate and $250,000 in individual fines... and civil penalties of $50,000." It demanded that Reeves provide the Treasury Department details in writing about the trip, including the "name and current address of all individuals who participated in the Field Study."

According to the Ad Hoc committee's press release, Reeves responded that the demand for information "constitutes discriminatory enforcement of the law based on national origin and political viewpoint." He further stated, "Regulation of academic travel to Cuba violates the rights of U.S. citizens to travel abroad, to seek information concerning public issues from foreign sources, and to exchange information with people in other countries."

The former vice president for academic affairs of the college approved the decision by Reeves and his attorneys that he was under no constitutional obligation to respond to the Treasury Department's written inquiries. The vice president was subsequently fired, supposedly for reasons unrelated to this case. The new acting dean ordered Reeves to comply with the government demand. "Professor Reeves believes that such a demand is a serious violation of academic freedom, as well as of the rights of free speech, assembly, and travel," said Thomas.

The American Civil Liberties Union is providing legal counsel for Reeves. The RCC-based defense committee, which was launched in September, is now circulating a petition to publicize and win support for his case. "We vigorously oppose any effort to force Professor Reeves to surrender documents he believes should remain confidential, and we deplore intimidation against him by the College or any action which may endanger his position as Professor and as Facilitator of the Caribbean Focus Program," the petition states.

NNOC affiliates agreed to circulate this petition widely, to help rally support for the defense effort. They will also be asking all supporters of civil liberties to send letters of protest to the Treasury Department and RCC administration.

Numerous probes by the government
Julia Aires of the Florida Coalition for Peace & Justice based in Gainsville, Florida, received a similar letter from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Treasury Department in mid-September. Aires said the federal agency demanded details on a trip to Cuba last January in which coalition members participated. Group members have traveled to Cuba previously, Aires said, but this was the first time the government took such action.

The letter was accompanied by a three-page questionnaire demanding detailed information. Treasury Department questions ranged from the itinerary while in Cuba, to the names and addresses of all travel companions, and the "name of the leader or contact person for any group which was involved in sponsoring, organizing or facilitating your trip to Cuba."

Aires said she has forwarded the letter to attorneys at the New York-based Center of Constitutional Rights (CCR), who are working with her on how to respond.

Bob Guild of Marazul Tours, a travel agency that books charter flights to Cuba for groups and individuals authorized to travel to the island, said in an interview that he knows of four people who have been ordered by the Treasury Department to pay fines for traveling to the Caribbean island allegedly in violation of Treasury Department regulations.

At the Pittsburgh meeting, Michael O'Heaney of Global Exchange reported that the Treasury Department is pursuing its case against Ben Truehoff, a piano repairman in San Francisco. The Treasury Department ordered Truehoff to pay a $10,000 fine earlier this year for traveling to Cuba to deliver pianos. Having obtained a license from the Commerce Department for the piano shipment, Truehoff traveled to Cuba to assure its safe delivery and retune the pianos as necessary after arrival. Truehoff has challenged the ruling that he violated U.S. regulations. Recently, the Treasury Department notified him it would up the fine to $100,000 if he traveled to Cuba again, O'Heaney said.

Harassing phone calls
Federal agents are also making harassing phone calls to other individuals involved in fact-finding trips to Cuba and in activities protesting U.S. government policy toward Cuba.

Jack Willey attended the NNOC meeting representing the Young Socialists. He is the organizer of the YS national steering committee. Willey reported that he had gotten a call at his house in Minneapolis five days before the Network meeting. The man on the other end of the line stated he was from the Treasury Department, but did not offer his name. He proceeded to ask questions about Willey's trip to Cuba this summer.

The YS leader participated in the U.S.-Cuba Youth Exchange July 24-August 6. More than 140 students, young workers, and other youth took part in the trip, which was sponsored by the NNOC. Since their return, many have been speaking and writing articles in defense of the Cuban revolution. The trip was fully hosted in Cuba by the Federation of University Students (FEU), which provided accommodations and covered all expenses on the island. According to federal regulations, fully hosted trips to Cuba are not a violation of U.S. laws.

Returning to the U.S., Willey and 20 other youth were stopped and interrogated by U.S. customs officials at O'Hare airport in Chicago. Their passports were copied and several had ticket stubs confiscated.

Willey said it took him 30 seconds before he realized the implications of what the caller was raising. He initially answered one question about the sponsorship of the youth exchange. He then told the caller he was under no obligation to answer any such questions and hung up. Subsequently, Willey informed other youth exchange participants of the incident, so they would be better prepared to respond by exercising their constitutional right to answer no questions and hang up or close the door.

How to respond when federal cops call
Looking back at the incident, Willey says, he recognizes that the response to such call or visit should be to ask for the person's name and to inform the caller it's your right not to answer any questions. "They can send any inquiries in writing and your lawyer will contact them," the YS leader stated.

After the incident, Willey said he looked around to find out about other cases where workers or other activists opposing Washington's policies have faced government harassment. He said he found the 1986 Militant article "Why workers should uphold right not to talk to FBI" very useful (this item is reprinted on the opposing page).

As that article points out, Willey said, when someone is questioned by federal agents, "The content of what a worker says in such a situation is not the key problem. The agreement to cooperate -talk - when not legally compelled to, means the cops scored a victory." Answering even one question, the YS leader said, gives federal cops a facade of legitimacy in intruding where they have no business. The questioning itself is a violation of basic democratic rights.

These points are explained succinctly in a 1986 resolution by the Socialist Workers Party titled "Why Class-Conscious Workers Don't Talk to Federal Agents," the YS leader said (see text on page 14).

Discussion at NNOC meeting
Leslie Cagan, one of the Network's national co-chairs, reminded participants at the Pittsburgh gathering that Margaret Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights is centralizing information on incidents of harassment or threats by federal agents. The CCR will also help with providing legal counsel where possible. NNOC affiliates were also urged to obtain attorneys in local areas who can be available to help when needed.

The NNOC is also helping distribute a pamphlet published by the CCR, titled If An Agent Knocks: Federal Investigators and Your Rights. The booklet explains that federal agents have no legal authority to force people to answer any questions. "Even when agents do have [arrest or search] warrants, you still don't have to answer their questions," it says.

Participants at the meeting reaffirmed support for helping defend another group being threatened with grand jury proceedings. The Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO)/Pastors for Peace has been served with a subpoena demanding complete records from the group with the names of participants and other information on humanitarian aid caravans to Cuba Pastors for Peace organized in 1994 and 1995.

The judge in this case has put a gag order on the group, banning its representatives from publicly discussing even the preliminary proceedings, and has ordered upcoming court hearings closed to the public. Pastors for Peace is challenging this ruling. NNOC affiliates at the meeting were urged to submit friend-of-the-court briefs asking that the gag order be lifted and the hearings be open.

NNOC activists also discussed including information on how to respond to these moves by the government in upcoming educational forums by local Cuba coalitions across the country.

"If the government can get away with these assaults, the entire Cuba solidarity movement and basic democratic rights of all will be dealt a serious blow," Andres Gómez said.

Activists at the gathering also heard report-backs on the July 24-August 6 U.S.-Cuba Youth Exchange and the successful delivery of hundreds of computers to hospitals in Cuba in September by Pastors for Peace. Representatives of several groups reported on speak-outs and other meetings in a number of cities set for October to discuss the Cuban revolution.

Participants agreed that the Network will initiate a call for a nationwide coordinating committee open to all youth groups interested to build participation from the United States to the 14th World Festival of Students and Youth. This event is scheduled to take place in Cuba next summer.

Three new groups were voted into membership at the meeting - the Twin Cities Cuba Network; Cuba Vive, based in Tampa, Florida; and the Young Socialists - bringing the number of affiliates to 77.

The next meeting of the Network was set for February 1-2.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home