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“In early March [2003], the Cuban government announced that American diplomats stationed at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana cannot travel beyond Havana province without prior approval by the government of Cuba. The American government reciprocated by requiring approval for Cuban diplomats stationed at the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, DC, to travel beyond the DC metropolitan area. Previous to the new rule, diplomats only had to give notice to the host government of travel plans. Cuba’s actions against American diplomats were purported to be in response to meetings with Cuban dissidents and independent journalists by James Cason, Chief of the U.S. Interests Section, Havana.” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.]

“Embargo Update: Overview of Recent Developments,” HavanaJournal.com, April 1, 2003

“…Havana, 18 March [2003]…Cuban experts asserted that the behaviour meetings with Cuban dissidents and independent journalists  of James Cason, Chief of the U.S. Interest Section in Havana, is in violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Missions and foments internal subversion on the island. In a forum broadcast by radio and television, the panelists agreed that with his actions Cason is violating Article 3 of the above-mentioned Convention, because he is disregarding the obligations of his post and is taking up prerogatives outside his role. The panelists listed the U.S. diplomat’s actions since he arrived on the island on September 2002 to head the U.S. Interest Section, a mission that Havana can do without, as President Fidel Castro said on 6 September.” [Editor’s note: The behavior that Cuban experts refer to is meetings with Cuban dissidents and independent journalists that James Cason was having.]

“George W. Bush (R). Timeline,” Cuba versus Blockade: Cuban People’s website, 2007

“… [A] Cuban passenger airliner was high jacked to Florida during a trip between destinations on the island. Thirty-seven persons, including six high jackers, arrived in the aircraft at Key West International airport on March 19 [2003]. The six high jackers will be prosecuted in the United States. Many passengers on the plane have returned to Cuba, but some have opted to apply for asylum in the United States…The Cuban government has said the U.S. decision to prosecute the high jackers is ‘a modest step forward,’ but has decried the decision to not return the aircraft and continues to denounce the U.S. policy that allows Cubans who reach American soil to apply for asylum in the United States.”

“Embargo Update: Overview of Recent Developments,” HavanaJournal.com, April 1, 2003

“In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), on Friday, March 21, 2003, ten U.S. Senators announced the formation of the bipartisan ‘Senate Working Group on Cuba.’ The letter said the working group would ‘examine U.S. policies toward Cuba, including trade and travel restrictions,’ citing Americans’ right to travel and Cuba’s potential as a U.S. export market. With the formation of the Senate Working Group on Cuba, both chambers of the U.S. Congress now have Cuba working groups committed to a new approach on U.S. policy toward Cuba. …The ten members of the Senate Working Group on Cuba are: 5 DEMOCRATS: Max Baucus (MT); Byron Dorgan (ND); Maria Cantwell (WA); Blanche Lincoln (AR); Jeff Bingaman (NM); 5 REPUBLICANS: Michael Enzi (WY); Chuck Hagel (NE); Norm Coleman (MN); Jim Talent (MO); Pat Roberts (KS).” [Con Embargo]

“Senate Announces Cuba Working Group,” HavanaJournal.com, March 24, 2003

“According to the New York Times, ‘Cuban authorities said those [dissidents] arrested were traitors organized and paid by the United States, specifically by James Cason, the chief American diplomat in Havana. Mr. Cason has held numerous high-profile meetings with dissidents, and has made some strongly critical statements against the government,’-(March 22, 2003)”

“Embargo Update: Overview of Recent Developments,” Cuba Policy Foundation, March 28, 2003

“On Monday, March 24, 2003, the U.S. Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has published new regulations impacting Cuban travel. OFAC’s program brochure on Cuba and industry overviews for the financial community and exporters & importers have been updated accordingly.”

“Embargo Update: Overview of Recent Developments,” Cuba Policy Foundation, March 28, 2003

“U.S Congressman Jeff Flake (R-AZ), a leading actor in the House Cuba Working Group, a bipartisan fifty-member coalition that supports easing U.S. sanctions against Cuba, introduced a resolution before the Congress on March 26, 2003, calling for the Cuban government to release all detainees and to respect internationally recognized human rights standards…Cuba’s actions have sparked outcry from human rights organizations, independent journalists and high-profile international figures. U.S. president George [W.] Bush and former president Jimmy Carter have each issued separate statements opposing the detentions. Former president Carter said in his statement, ‘I call on the Cuban government to respect those rights and to refrain from detaining or harassing citizens who are expressing their views peacefully.’ Amnesty International issued an ‘Action Alert’, and other international bodies have denounced Cuba’s actions, including the Swedish Parliament and at the United Nations, where Peru introduced a resolution critical of Cuba at a human rights meeting.”

“Embargo Update: Overview of Recent Developments,” Cuba Policy Foundation, March 28, 2003

“A man using two fake hand grenades commandeered a passenger plane from Cuba to Florida on Tuesday [April 1, 2003], in a 14-hour ordeal that, for a few hours at least, united the U.S. and Cuban governments in an effort to stop the hijacking. The truce was short-lived: Within hours of the plane’s landing in Key West, U.S. officials blasted Cuba for incompetent airport security and Cuba accused the U.S. government of being soft on hijackers. The hijacking was the second from Cuba in two weeks. On the heels of harsh criticism from the Cuban government of U.S. response to hijackers from the island, top federal law enforcers in Miami reacted aggressively…The hijackings have occurred in the midst of one of the Cuban government’s biggest crackdowns on island-based dissidents in years…On Monday night, Adermis Wilson Gonzalez, 33, boarded the plane with his wife and son. Wilson brandishes two grenade-like balls and yelled that eh[he] would blow up the plane unless the pilots tool him to Miami, authorities said…Wilson was one of the first people off the plane. He wore a red jacket with the word ‘America’ stitched on the back and carried his son. The boy was handed to a woman who may have been his mother, who was also on the flight…The other passengers were processed by federal agents, their hands bound with plastic handcuffs. The pilot asked to be sent back to Cuba, and some of the passengers may have requested to be allowed to stay in the United States, law-enforcement sources said.”

Jennifer Babson & Oscar Corral, “Hijacked plane from Cuba 2nd in 2 weeks,” The Miami Herald, April 2, 2003

“Two armed men commandeered a ferry today [April 3, 2003] in Havana and set a course for Florida, the second time in two days that Cuban hijackers have taken hostages as they tried to flee to the United States. The F.B.I. said 15 to 20 people were aboard the 45-foot government-run ferry, which runs between Havana and Casablanca, across Havana Bay. The vessel was overtaken at 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday and followed by two Cuban Border Patrol vessels, the Foreign Ministry said…A spokeswoman for the Coast Guard said that it was monitoring the situation and that the ferry and its occupants were the responsibility of Cuba… ‘It gets the attention of those who are on the fence and persuades them to do the same,’ said Gerardo Le Chevallier, director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, a group in Washington. ‘If the U.S. gives asylum to all who take a plane or a boat, it is like inviting others to do it, too.’’ Representatives of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington did not return calls for comment… ‘We’ve long had a very liberal policy with respect to Cubans who make it to our shores, and I’m sure Cubans in Cuba are aware of that,’ said Cheryl Little, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, a legal services organization in Miami. The new hijackings occur as Cuba increases pressure on people considered disloyal to the government. The Castro government recently cracked down on dissidents, arresting scores of journalists and political opponents on charges of conspiring with American diplomats. ‘It comes at a time when there are heightened frictions between the Cuban regime and the United States,’ Mariela Ferretti, a spokeswoman for the Cuban American National Foundation in Miami, said of the hijackings. ‘We have considered the possibility that these people are being manipulated in order to provoke further friction between the United States and Cuba.’”

Dana Canedy & David Gonzalez, “2 Hijackers Seize Havana Ferry and Sail for Florida,” NewYorkTimes.com, April 3, 2003

“Responding to the severest crack-down by the Castro government on human rights activists in recent memory, on Tuesday, April 8, 2003, the U.S. House of Representatives passed by an extraordinary 414-0, a resolution ‘regarding the systematic human rights violations in Cuba committed by the Castro regime; calling for the immediate release of all political prisoners and supporting free elections for Cuba.’  The measure (H. Res. 108-179) was introduced by Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL21), one of the most strident defenders of the U.S. embargo.  In a telling signal of Congressional outrage over the dissident crack-down, all but one Representative of the 50 member House Cuba Working Group, a coalition formed with the intention of easing the embargo, supported the Diaz-Balart resolution.”

“Embargo Update: Congress Reacts to Castro’s Crackdown: The charm offensive is over, but what course to expect in U.S. policy?” Cuba Policy Foundation, April 9, 2003