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DATE=3/16/99 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT NUMBER=5-42873 TITLE=CUBA DISSIDENTS / REACT BYLINE=MICHAEL BOWMAN DATELINE=MIAMI CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: ON MONDAY, CUBA SENTENCED FOUR HIGH-PROFILE DISSIDENTS TO JAIL TERMS RANGING FROM THREE AND A HALF TO FIVE YEARS. MUCH OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY HAS EXPRESSED DISAPPOINTMENT AND, IN SOME CASES, OUTRIGHT CONDEMNATION. MIAMI'S CUBAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY CLOSELY FOLLOWED MONDAY'S COURT ACTIONS IN HAVANA. AS V-O-A'S MICHAEL BOWMAN REPORTS, MOST CUBAN EXILES VIEW THE DISSIDENTS' SENTENCING AS ONE MORE EXAMPLE OF THE REPRESSION THAT THEY THEMSELVES FLED IN YEARS PAST. TEXT: SIXTY-FOUR YEAR OLD CUBAN EXILE GUSTAVO PEREZ SITS IN A COFFEE SHOP WITH HIS WIFE, GABRIELA. MR. PEREZ LEFT CUBA IN 1970 AND NOW OPERATES A SMALL BUSINESS IN DOWNTOWN MIAMI. HE SAYS ALL CUBANS WHO HAVE THIRSTED FOR DEMOCRACY CAN SYMPATHIZE WITH THE DISSIDENTS WHO WERE SENTENCED MONDAY. // PEREZ ACT IN SPANISH - ESTABLISH AND FADE UNDER TEXT // MR. PEREZ SAYS IT IS LAMENTABLE TO SEE THE JAILING OF PEOPLE WHO SPEAK OUT FOR FREEDOM. HE SAYS CUBAN LEADER FIDEL CASTRO HAS ALWAYS TRIED TO ELIMINATE HIS OPPONENTS AND HIS PERCEIVED ENEMIES - INCLUDING MANY OF THOSE WHO HELPED BRING HIM TO POWER AND WHO FELL OUT OF FAVOR AFTER CUBA'S (1959) REVOLUTION. //OPT/// LIKE MANY CUBAN EXILES, MR. PEREZ IS BAFFLED BY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY'S SENSE OF DISAPPOINTMENT REGARDING THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT'S CRACKDOWN ON INTERNAL DISSENT. HE SAYS THE WORLD SHOULD KNOW BY NOW THAT PRESIDENT CASTRO WILL NEVER ABANDON HIS AUTHORITARIAN PRACTICES. // PEREZ ACT IN SPANISH - ESTABLISH AND FADE UNDER TEXT // MR. PEREZ SAYS THE OUTCOME OF THE DISSIDENTS' TRIAL SHOULD NOT SURPRISE ANYONE. //END OPT// MARIELA FERRETTI IS A SPOKESPERSON FOR MIAMI'S LARGEST CUBAN EXILE GROUP, THE CUBAN-AMERICAN NATIONAL FOUNDATION. MS. FERRETTI SAYS THE DISSIDENTS' SENTENCING SERVES AS DEFINITIVE PROOF THAT THE MESSAGE OF OPENNESS AND TOLERANCE POPE JOHN PAUL BROUGHT TO CUBA LAST YEAR HAS FALLEN ON DEAF EARS. // FERRETTI ACT // IT'S TIME, REALLY, FOR THE CIVILIZED WORLD TO LOOK UPON THE CUBAN NATION, SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING THERE, AND MAKE A DECISION (ABOUT) WHAT SIDE THEY ARE GOING TO BE STANDING ON - WHETHER IT'S GOING TO BE ON THE SIDE OF THE CUBAN PEOPLE WHO WANT AND DESERVE FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY, OR STANDING SIDE-BY-SIDE WITH A DICTATOR. // END ACT // THE DISSIDENTS SENTENCED MONDAY ANGERED CUBAN AUTHORITIES IN 1997, WHEN THEY PRINTED A DOCUMENT - TITLED 'THE MOTHERLAND BELONGS TO ALL' - CRITICIZING ONE-PARTY RULE AND CALLING FOR POLITICAL REFORM. THEY ALSO URGED FOREIGN COMPANIES NOT TO INVEST IN CUBA. THEY WERE TRIED MARCH FIRST ON CHARGES OF SEDITION. IN ANNOUNCING THE SENTENCES ON STATE-RUN MEDIA, THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT SAID THE DEFENDANTS' CRIMES HAD BEEN IRREFUTABLY PROVEN - AND ADDED THAT THE SENTENCES HANDED DOWN COULD HAVE BEEN STIFFER. THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT DESCRIBES THE DISSIDENTS AS 'SERVANTS' OF THE UNITED STATES, WHO SEEK TO UNDERMINE THE COUNTRY -- AND THEREFORE CANNOT BE CONSIDERED LEGITIMATE POLITICAL PRISONERS. CUBA RECENTLY ENACTED LEGISLATION MANDATING LONG JAIL SENTENCES FOR THOSE CONVICTED OF ATTEMPTING TO DESTABILIZE THE GOVERNMENT OR COLLABORATING WITH CUBA'S ENEMIES ABROAD. IN DEFENDING THE MEASURE, PRESIDENT CASTRO SAID CUBA MUST PROTECT ITSELF FROM THOSE WHO WOULD JEOPARDIZE ITS INDEPENDENCE OR SEEK TO REVERSE ITS COMMUNIST REVOLUTION. IN MIAMI, CUBAN EXILES APPLAUD MONDAY'S DECISION BY CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER JEAN CHRETIEN TO REVIEW BILATERAL RELATIONS WITH CUBA IN LIGHT OF THE CARIBBEAN NATION'S TREATMENT OF THE DISSIDENTS. MOST CUBAN-AMERICANS HAVE LONG VIEWED ANY POLICY OF ENGAGEMENT WITH HAVANA AS NAIVE - AND BELIEVE MONDAY'S SENTENCING BOLSTERS THEIR CONTENTION. (SIGNED) NEB/MCB/LTD/WFR 16-Mar-99 5:03 PM EST (2203 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .