PRESS RELEASE

Miami july 17th

"The Cuban National Assemblyhas carried out constitutional changes.

Among the most important are:

1) Cuban exiles who have adopted a foreign citizenship or who "conspire" against the Cuban Government will be deprived of Cuban citizenship. (this was already in the Constitution, but it is now more explicit"

2) The government will now allow for a mixed economy in which foreigners will be allowed to enter into joint ventures with the government.. Cuban exiles, now considered "foreigners" will therefore supposedly be able to invest in Cuba, but without political participation.

3) There will be now direct voting for members of municipal and provincial assemblies, although The Communist party continues to be the sole political Party in Cuba The Government insists in thet it will not allow a multi-party system in Cuba. It is also not clear on whether they will allow dissidents to run for seats in the Assembly.

Nevertheless,the electoral system in Cuba is a sham that does not allow for a true democratic process.

4) The powers of the President have also been (surprise!) expanded.

It is hard to conceive how Castro could have more power, but there you have it.

5) Religious discrimination is now outlawed (after 33 years of practicing it!)

In our opinion, the aims of these constitutional "reforms" are to:

1) Legalize the search for funds already intiated by Cuban Government

2) The citizenship part is meant to exclude exiles from any possible political "opening" in Cuba at the same time that it allows the government to tap exiled businessmen.

As Key opposition leaders within Cuba have phrased it, it is "too little, too late".