ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, November 12, 1996 TAG: 9611120114
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: C-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: VINA DEL MAR, CHILE
SOURCE: Associated Press
Ending a summit Monday, 23 Latin heads of state denounced U.S. moves to isolate Cuba, but also pressed Fidel Castro to institute democratic changes on the communist island.
Leaders from Latin America, Spain and Portugal closed the summit with a statement expressing ``firm rejection'' of a U.S. law intended to punish foreign companies for doing business in Cuba. The leaders urged the United States ``to reconsider its enforcement.''
The summit's final joint statement said the Helms-Burton Act, which lets U.S. citizens sue foreign companies that use property seized from them in the 1959 Cuban revolution, violates international law by trying to make U.S. legislation apply internationally.
While that section of the statement seemed to be a victory for Castro, numerous appeals for the Cuban president to allow democratic change in his country kept him on the defensive.
In the call for democratization, the joint statement did not specifically name Castro or Cuba, although some leaders did and it was clear that Castro was the group's main target.
Castro appeared unmoved. Speaking at a meeting of Chilean socialists Sunday, he said Cuba has its own brand of democracy.
In apparent response, Chilean President Eduardo Frei said in his closing remarks that ``there is only one legitimate [democracy], which is the one that respects human rights and makes decisions according to majorities expressed in honest elections.''
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, meanwhile, said Monday that he had held a ``tense'' meeting with Castro and offered him unspecified ``measures in favor of Cuba'' in exchange for democratic change.
``I gave Castro a very clear message. I told him, `I want you to know that if you move your pieces, I am ready to move mine,''' Aznar said.
LENGTH: Short : 43 linesby CNB