[Cincinatus' Wife]

Carter to Cubans: Embrace freedom***"My nation is hardly perfect in human rights," Carter added, pointing out that many U.S. citizens are in prison, "and there is little doubt that the death penalty is imposed most harshly on those who are poor, black or mentally ill."***

Carter reveals democracy effort( Varela Project) *** Former President Jimmy Carter last night told Cubans for the first time of a fledgling democracy effort under way in their country, while Bush administration officials directly contradicted his assertion that he had asked about biological weapons in pre-trip briefings.***

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Cuba's bio-research activity under scrutiny: Did Castro plant West Nile virus in Florida Keys?***Indeed, in 1998 Clinton administration Defense Secretary William S. Cohen wrote a letter to Armed Service Committee Chairman Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., pointedly stating that he was "concerned about the use of Cuba as a base for intelligence activities directed against the United States" and "Cuba's potential to develop and produce biological agents, given its biotechnology infrastructure."

Cohen's letter concludes by telling Thurmond that the Department of Defense "remains vigilant to the concerns posed by Castro's Cuba." Attached to the letter was the defense secretary's classified report, "The Cuba Threat to U.S. National Security." The report's publicly released summary read: "Cuba's biotechnology industry is one of the most advanced in emerging countries and would be capable of producing biological warfare agents."

Concurrent with Cohen's letter, the CIA released a much-overlooked 1998 report that warned of the dangers of a biological terrorist attack on the U.S. The report explained that such an assault, if launched by a country with sophisticated means, could go undetected and be erroneously attributed to natural causes. The report listed a little over a dozen smaller nations as suspected of possessing biological weapons. Included high on the list was Cuba.***