Posted on 06/15/2002 1:36:53 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
With a foreign service career that spans three decades, James Cason says he is unfazed by his upcoming tour of duty in the Western Hemisphere's only remaining communist nation and America's longtime political nemesis.
As the new chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Cason plans to expand the outreach programs with dissidents on the island and come up with ''creative ways'' to foment change from within.
''I've worked under dictatorships just about everywhere I've been,'' said Cason, 57. ``I was in Uruguay when there was a dictator. I was in Panama when [Manuel] Noriega was in charge. I was in Portugal during the dictatorship there. So I'm aware of dictators and the kinds of things they do.''
``I don't want to tip my hand before I get down there. . . . But I plan to be creative and active and vigorous.''
Cason, who was tapped for the position a year ago and is to arrive in Havana in early September, said he is preparing for the job by reading everything the State Department has on Cuba, attending Cuba-related functions and talking to lawmakers, analysts and leaders of influential organizations with an interest in Cuba.
He also plans to travel to Miami this summer to meet with Cuban Americans here.
''I'm all ears,'' said Cason, who speaks Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. ``I want to listen to their ideas . . . and see what sounds like [if] it's doable.''
In Miami, Cason is likely to face a skeptical crowd.
He already has been exposed to the wrath of Spanish-language radio amid rumors that he planned to take his boat with him to Havana.
''I think it's troublesome, because it indicates a lack of understanding of the situation on the ground,'' said Frank Calzon, executive director of the Washington-based Center for a Free Cuba.
WANTED HIS BOAT
Cason admits that he made inquiries about taking his 24-foot fishing boat, which is in storage in Maryland. But he said he quickly dismissed the idea because of the difficulties involved with getting the boat to Havana. So he plans to leave it with a son in Pensacola during his three-year duty.
''If I want to go fishing, I will go fishing in the lakes of Cuba. Or I will go down to the coast and cast,'' he said.
Dennis Hays, executive vice president of the Cuban American National Foundation and a former U.S. diplomat, agreed that it is important for someone in a sensitive posting such as Cuba to ''recognize the emotional aspect'' of the job.
But Hays said he was optimistic that Cason will be effective in expanding on the work done by departing chief Vicki Huddleston, who is to serve as ambassador to Mali in West Africa. Huddleston is seen as a friend of the dissident movement in Cuba and has promoted their work abroad through the press and international organizations. She also has distributed hundreds of shortwave radios on the island, to the chagrin of the Cuban government.
SET A STANDARD
''She obviously will be a very difficult act to follow, but I think he's the guy who can do it,'' said Hays, who spent more than an hour with Cason at a recent lunch meeting. ``I am very encouraged by the sorts of things that he's talking about doing.''
Those who know Cason say he is a workaholic and consummate professional.
''He knows how to manage the situation in a challenging if not oppressive environment. I think he brings a lot to this [Cuba] table,'' said Cresencio Arcos, ambassador to Honduras when Cason was deputy ambassador there in the early 1990s.
Among his first tasks there was to seek $700,000 in compensation from Honduras for damage to a U.S. Embassy annex when a mob attacked it in the late 1980s. His predecessors had given up, but by the time he left the post in 1995, ''the account was closed in full,'' Cason said proudly.
Cason, who was born in New Jersey, began his foreign service career in his mid-20s.
Before taking on his current post as director of policy planning and coordination at the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs in the Department of State, he served as deputy chief at the U.S. Embassy in Jamaica.
In 32 years of government service, Cason has worked for various U.S. departments including defense, commerce, interior and agriculture. His tours of duty include El Salvador, Bolivia, Panama, Italy, Venezuela and Portugal.
Cason said that one of his main aims will be ``to report on exactly what's happening in Cuba and bring accurate information to the table.''
``I see this as a culmination of my career and I'm really eager to get there.''
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