THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Monday, August 22, 1994                TAG: 9408200032
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A06  EDITION: FINAL  
TYPE: Editorial
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   55 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: ***************************************************************** In yesterday's editorial, ``Needed: A Cuba policy,'' Bob Graham was mistakenly identified as the governor of Florida. He is a former governor and current U.S. senator. Lawton Chiles is the incumbent governor. Correction published Tuesday, August 23, 1994, page A12. ***************************************************************** A FINGER IN THE DIKE NEEDED: A CUBAN POLICY

Less than 12 hours after she chastised Florida Gov. Bob Graham for being ``melodramatic'' in saying there was an immigration emergency in Florida because of a rising tide of Cuban refugees, Attorney General Janet Reno agreed with him. She announced that Cubans will no longer be automatically allowed into the United States, as they have previously. Instead, they will be detained at Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba, where nearly 14,000 Haitians are already being held.

President Clinton backed up Reno at his press conference on Friday, but announced no other new policy measures. That is disappointing, for the new immigration policy is, at best, a finger in the dike. What is needed is a new U.S. policy toward Cuba aimed at preventing the catastrophe that is surely coming if nothing changes in Cuba.

By merely jiggering with immigration policy, the president is leaving Fidel Castro in the foreign policy drivers' seat. Castro likes nothing better than a good confrontation with the United States, a game he is deft at turning to his own advantage. The president will have to take the political offensive if he is to head the Bearded One off at the pass.

Unfortunately, the president Friday reaffirmed the embargo on trade with Cuba, a policy Castro uses as an excuse for his failures. It should be lifted, either completely or selectively. The president could follow up with a speech to the Organization of American States demanding immediate free, internationally supervised elections in Cuba. He could echo the pastoral letter the Cuban bishops issued last September calling for political dialogue, which the U.S. government inexcusably ignored at the time.

Failing to think seriously about foreign policy results in the kind of crisis management we are now witnessing in Washington. Finding a way to remove Castro from power should be a top priority. Unfortunately, there is no sign that that is the case.

KEYWORDS: CUBA

by CNB