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 Home > News & Policies > April 2003

Excerpts from the Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer, April 10, 2003 (Full Transcript)

QUESTION: Ari, last week the White House put out a statement calling for the release of dissidents who were arrested in Cuba. A lot of those people have now been tried, convicted and sentenced, in some cases to 20 to 25 years. What's the White House doing about it now to try to secure their releases?

MR. FLEISCHER: The President condemns in the strongest terms the Cuban government's actions in terms of the repression of these brave citizens. The President continues to view the Castro regime as an abuser of human rights. And that's why the President spoke out.

QUESTION: Will the President use the meeting today with the Central American leaders to try to push them to take a harder stance against Castro's Cuba?

MR. FLEISCHER: I'll let you know if anything like that comes up, but the focus of the meeting is going to be on trade.