Divided King County Council says no to ties with Cuba

Late last year, the council agreed to consider forming a "sister" relationship with Granma Province in Cuba. Councilman Dwight Pelz, D-Seattle, traveled there earlier this year to meet with local officials and attend a conference.

But many people adamantly opposed to the idea asked the county not to pursue it, and the council voted 7-6 yesterday to instead support and coordinate with federal policy on forming relationships with Cuba's government, effectively ending the possibility of a sister county for now.

"I'm disappointed that the King County Council voted to continue the Cold War, which I thought I'd read was over," Pelz said after the vote. "Peace with Cuba is inevitable."

He criticized Councilwoman Julia Patterson, the only Democrat to vote with the six Republicans, calling her vote "cowardly."

Patterson said she is not against a sister relationship, but said the issue isn't worth turning King County residents against one another.

"The issue has divided us. It's divided veterans against veterans," said Patterson, of SeaTac.

"Therefore, it's not time to move forward with this proposal until we are more unified, because it would cause more harm than good."

Before the vote, Pelz showed slides from his trip and told of how the 40-year-old U.S. embargo against Cuba prevented him from sending $100 for shirts or $50 in computer equipment to people he met there.

"It's illegal for me to send a present to a friend in Cuba," he said.

Carmen Aguiar, a Cuban American born in New York, told the council that her grandfather was tortured as a political prisoner in Cuba.

"Unless you lose freedom, you can never appreciate it," she said. "If you love (Cuba) so much, you should move there."

Several military veterans testified on both sides of the issue, some recalling their service in the Vietnam War and citing the torture of U.S. prisoners of war by interrogators believed to be Cubans.

The national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars passed a resolution opposing any sister relationships with the communist country, which the U.S. State Department lists as a state sponsor of terrorism.

On the other side, retired Navy Rear Adm. Bill Center said he favored a relationship with Cuba.

"Our 40-year embargo of Cuba has failed," said Center, who is president of the Washington Council on International Trade. "It has hurt Cubans and American farmers who could have been selling goods to them. But it hasn't hurt (President Fidel) Castro one bit.

"The Cold War is over. The communists lost. Castro knows that."

The council's resolution acknowledges recent Bush administration initiatives to facilitate humanitarian aid to Cuban people by U.S. religious or other non-governmental groups.

"We care about compassion. We care about people," said Republican Councilwoman Kathy Lambert, who sponsored the motion. But until U.S. policy changes toward Cuba, it's not the place of local government to tackle federal foreign policy, she said.

About a dozen U.S. cities, including Tacoma, already have sister relationships with cities in Cuba.

P-I reporter Margaret Taus can be reached at 206-448-8027 or margarettaus@seattlepi.com

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