GERRY ADAMS, the Sinn Fein President, is to visit Fidel Castro
in Cuba at the risk of damaging the Irish republican movement’s
relations with Washington.
The visit, originally planned for September, is expected to take
place before the end of the year. A US State Department
spokesman yesterday said: “We would prefer the trip not to go
ahead, but it is clearly Mr Adams’s decision.”
The Sinn Fein leadership has been nervous about announcing
details of the trip because of fears that it may have to postpone the
visit at the last minute if Señor Castro’s health deteriorates.
Sinn Fein has been particularly anxious not to have to delay the
visit, in case this was interpreted as a response to pressure from
the White House.
Some US officials had hoped the trip would be postponed
indefinitely after the decision to delay the visit earlier this year and
are believed to be deeply disappointed that it is now back on.
Above all, they would prefer the West Belfast MP not to
embarrass the Bush administration by meeting Señor Castro, a
sworn enemy of Washington, although they are not expected to
comment formally on any such meeting.
Mr Adams is keen to visit Cuba before the end of this year to
thank Señor Castro for his support during the 1981 hunger strikes
during the twentieth anniversary of the protests, in which ten IRA
and INLA prisoners died in the Maze Prison. In September 1981
Castro announced his opposition to Margaret Thatcher’s
Government when he declared that “Irish patriots are writing one
of the most heroic chapters in human history”.
As well as meeting Señor Castro, Mr Adams is expected to use
his trip to unveil a memorial in Havana to the IRA hunger strikers.
The visit is expected to last several days.
Although Sinn Fein’s standing with Washington has improved
since the IRA started the process of decommissioning its guns in
October, the republican movement is still smarting from the arrest
of three alleged IRA volunteers in Columbia in the summer. The
three, one of whom was working as Sinn Fein’s representative in
Cuba, are accused of using illegal documentation and of training
left-wing Columbian rebels in urban terrorism.
News of the trip will also irritate Unionists in Northern Ireland.
Jeffrey Donaldson, the hardline Ulster Unionist MP for Lagan
Valley, said that the proposed trip was a “timely reminder” of Sinn
Fein’s “Marxist tendencies”.
He said: “I find it quite remarkable at times that some of the most
stridently anti-Marxist Congressmen support somebody like Gerry
Adams and I hope that when they see him consorting with Fidel
Castro they will take time to reflect on the kind of people they are
supporting.”
Describing the visit as a “clear snub” to Washington, he added
yesterday: “If President Bush is consistent then I think he will be
wary of people like Gerry Adams in the future, and he ought to
ask himself the question: ‘Is a friend of Fidel Castro’s a friend of
America?’ ” Nigel Dodds, the Democratic Unionist MP for North
Belfast, said: “This all illustrates the circles in which Sinn Fein/IRA
are most comfortable and I think this should come as a real
eye-opener to the American people about exactly where Sinn
Fein/IRA stand.
“What it will point up is that, as far as the republican movement is
concerned, their affinity with the Marxist internationale is
stronger than any ties to western democracy. They will know how
deeply unpopular this will be with the Americans and yet they are
going to go ahead with this at a time when Cuba and its policies,
particularly on terrorism, are in the international dock.”
He added: “It should remind Bush that, behind all the talk and
rhetoric, Sinn Fein/IRA is a hardline Marxist outfit which supports
revolution and that Americans would be gullible in thinking
anything else about them.”
