Washington's Havana Headaches
You can't win 'em all, especially with a Cold War-era game plan:
Washington's resolution condemning Cuba was slapped down at a U.N. human
rights forum yesterday, but the news from Europe was better -- the EU is
dropping its World Trade Organization complaint against the Helms-Burton
Act. Europe is fiercely opposed to the law's provision for U.S. sanctions
against foreign firms doing business with Cuba. "The administration knew
Helms-Burton is bad policy but felt trapped into signing it," says TIME
White House correspondent Jay Branegan. "Very little has been done to
actually implement the law, and the President has repeatedly waived key
provisions." Now the two sides appear to have reached a compromise to avoid
wrecking the World Trade Organization, which has served both parties well.
And while no one is revealing the details, don't expect the U.S. to make
trouble for
Europeans doing business with Havana any time soon.