Three sections of the American Bar Association are planning to send delegations to Cuba next spring, but the Cuban American Bar Association warns the trips could double as propaganda for the island's communist government.

Jose Pagliery
2011-12-23 12:00:00 AM

Planned trips to Cuba by three sections of the American Bar Association are coming under fire from Cuban-American lawyers, who worry the island's communist government could use the delegations as an acknowledgment of legitimacy.

In a letter Wednesday to the heads of the ABA and its criminal justice, family and health law sections, Cuban American Bar Association president Victoria Méndez questioned the purpose of the trips and expressed concerns about having American lawyers, who champion the rule of law, meet with the National Union of Cuban Jurists, which she called "an arm of the totalitarian regime."

"These meetings will undoubtedly be used by the Cuban government to bolster the legitimacy of its shameful justice system," she wrote. "The ABA should not allow itself to be exploited as a party to a carefully orchestrated and state-sponsored propaganda campaign."

Stephen Saltzburg, a George Washington University Law School professor leading the ABA criminal justice section delegation, said his group welcomes the input and will address CABA's concerns about Cuba's restrictions on free speech and its treatment of political dissidents — even if Cubans try to narrow the focus of conversation.

"We have no illusions that the Cuban government isn't going to try to control what we see and hear. But given that I don't have any experience knowing how much push-back works, we'll push and see what works," he said.

Calls for comment were not returned by deadline from ABA family section chair Randy Kessler of Atlanta and ABA health section chair David Johnson of Albuquerque. On a Nov. 22 post on his firm's website, Kessler said the trip serves "to promote understanding of family law in each country and to exchange ideas that will hopefully help families in both countries," especially as travel restrictions change.

The health law section plans to visit Cuba in April, the other two in March.

Former ABA president Stephen Zack of Boies Schiller & Flexner in Miami said current president Bill Robinson III has promised he won't go until many of the issues raised by CABA have been resolved.

Robinson said he appreciated CABA's input "as we strive to foster open dialogues between lawyers from different nations."

Zack said, "We have to be very careful that the Cuban government does not use this as a propaganda opportunity."

Click here to view the letter sent to the ABA President and ABA Section Leaders