McCain: Keep Cuba embargo in place

BY BETH REINHARD AND CASEY WOODS

breinhard@MiamiHerald.com

Provoking emotional outbursts from a friendly Latin American audience in Miami, Republican presidential contender John McCain assailed Democrat Barack Obama for his willingness to talk to Cuba and his opposition to free trade with Colombia.

Obama suggested that he would support lifting the embargo on Cuba when he ran for the U.S. Senate in 2003 but now says it should stay in place. He does, however, favor talking to the communist government and allowing Cuban Americans to travel freely to the island in hopes of instigating democratic reforms.

''These steps would send the worst possible signal to Cuba's dictators -- there is no need to undertake fundamental reforms, they can simply wait for a unilateral change in U.S. policy,'' McCain said. ``I believe we should give hope to the Cuban people, not to the Castro regime.

In a sign that the Obama campaign was adopting a policy of responding immediately to attacks, CNN reported that Obama would talk about the McCain speech at 4 p.m. Obama is also scheduled to speak in person to the Cuban American National Foundation in Miami on Friday.

McCain's speech at the Sheraton Miami Mart was timed to coincide with Cuban Independence Day, which celebrates the anniversary in 1902 of the transfer of power from Spain. A quartet of musicians in guayaberas played while the guests nibbled on traditional pastelitos.

Singer Olga Guillot led the crowd in the Cuban national anthem. Then McCain was introduced by Roberto Martin Perez, who was imprisoned in Cuba for 28 years.

''I'm introducing a man who suffered the prisons, as I did, in Vietnam,'' Perez said, referring to McCain's five years as a prisoner of war. ``This honor that's been conferred upon me is not only mine but the thousands of victims who have suffered because of this terrible doctrine.''

McCain spoke in front of a dramatic backdrop of nine flags from Latin American countries, all in a row, next to the American flag. He criticized Obama and Democrat Hillary Clinton for opposing a trade deal with Colombia that he said would benefit American workers and strengthen relationships with Latin American allies.

''Yet Sens. Obama and Clinton oppose the agreement, wishing to retreat behind protectionist walls and undermine a key hemispheric ally,'' McCain said.

The audience gave McCain several standing ovations.

''The speech is important because it sends a clear message to Raúl Castro that there will be no change in U.S. policy under a McCain administration until there are political changes inside Cuba,'' said state Rep. David Rivera of Miami, who has been pushing legislation to make it harder to travel to Cuba.

About a dozen members of the South Florida AFL-CIO protested the speech outside the hotel. The Arizona senator rarely backs the union's agenda in Congress, and it is staunchly opposed to a trade deal with Colombia because of human rights abuses.

''It's all about corporate profits,'' union president Fred Frost said. ``It's immoral what they do to the working people over there.''