Clinton Details Basis for Ties With Cuba

President Clinton said he wants to develop “an ongoing relationship” with Fidel Castro’s Cuba much like the one he has with China, but only after America’s Communist neighbor moves toward democracy. In an interview on NBC-TV’s “Meet the Press,” Clinton said he had been working toward “a gradually evolving relationship” with Havana until Cuban fighters shot down two small planes piloted by Cuban Americans in February 1996. Until then, Clinton had resisted tougher anti-Cuba legislation in Congress, but he signed the so-called Helms-Burton Act after the attack. “So, we are at an impasse now,” Clinton said.