[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 12 (Monday, March 23, 1998)]
[Pages 475-476]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Cuba

March 20, 1998

    Eight weeks ago, His Holiness John Paul II made an historic visit to 
Cuba. He spoke to and for the Catholic faithful who have for decades 
endured a system that denied their right to worship freely.
    In anticipation and in support of that visit, my administration made 
a number of exceptions to our policy regarding travel and shipment of 
humanitarian supplies to Cuba. The response of the Cuban people to that 
visit has since convinced me that we should continue to look for ways to 
support Cuba's people without supporting its regime, by providing 
additional humanitarian relief, increasing human contacts, and helping 
the Cuban people prepare for a peaceful transition to a free, 
independent, and prosperous nation.
    Prior to the Pope's visit, we authorized direct charter flights for 
pilgrims to attend Papal services. We also authorized direct 
humanitarian cargo flights to Cuba in order to reduce the cost of 
getting these needed supplies to the Cuban people. The deliveries were 
carefully monitored to ensure that they reached the people for whom they 
were intended.
    These measures were fully consistent with the letter and spirit of 
the Cuban Democracy Act and the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity 
Act, which, in addition to sustaining tough economic sanctions, also 
enable and encourage the administration to conduct a program of support 
for the Cuban people.
    I continue to believe in the validity of our policy built on four 
main components:
    --pressure on the regime for democratic change;
    --support for the Cuban people through humanitarian assistance and 
      help in developing civil society;
    --promotion of more concerted multilateral effort to promote 
      democracy and human rights; and
    --cooperative arrangements to move migration into safe, legal and 
      orderly channels.
    I have been following carefully the various proposals put forward by 
Members of Congress and other interested groups for expanding 
humanitarian assistance to the people of Cuba, including food. I have 
asked Secretary Albright to work on a bipartisan basis with the Congress 
to fashion an approach to the transfer of food to the Cuban people.
    To build further on the impact of the Pope's visit, to support the 
role of the Church and other elements of civil society in Cuba, and to 
thereby help prepare the Cuban people for a democratic transition, I 
have also decided to take the following steps:
    --Resume licensing direct humanitarian charter flights to Cuba. 
      Direct humanitarian flights under applicable agency regulations 
      will make it easier for Cuban-Americans to visit loved ones on the 
      island, and for humanitarian organizations to provide needed 
      assistance more expeditiously and at lower cost.
    --Establish new licensing arrangements to permit Cuban-Americans and 
      Cuban families living here in the United States to send 
      humanitarian remittances to their families in Cuba at the level of 
      $300 per quarter, as was permitted until 1994. This will enable 
      Cuban-Americans to provide direct support to relatives in Cuba, 
      while moving the current flow of remittances back into legal, 
      orderly channels.
    --Streamline and expedite the issuance of licenses for the sale of 
      medicines and medical supplies and equipment to Cuba. Based on 
      experience of the past several years, including during the Papal 
      visit, we believe that the end-use verification called for in the 
      Cuban Democracy Act can be met through simplified arrangements.
    The Departments of Treasury, Commerce and State will develop and 
promulgate new licensing arrangements in these three areas in the coming 
weeks.
    The people of Cuba continue to live under a regime which deprives 
them of their freedom, and denies them economic opportunity. The 
overarching goal of American policy must be to promote a peaceful 
transition to democracy on the island. Such a transition will depend 
upon the efforts of Cubans

[[Page 476]]

who seek to build a vibrant civil society and to secure respect for 
basic human rights. The presence of His Holiness John Paul II in Cuba 
inspired the Cuban people, providing an important psychological boost to 
the Cuban Catholic Church, to Cuba's nascent civil society, and to the 
Cuban people. The measures I have announced today are designed to build 
upon that visit, to support the Cuban people through the hardships and 
difficulties ahead, to contribute to the growth of a civil society and 
to help prepare for a peaceful transition to democracy.