Clinton rewards allies

Title III of Helms-Burton will not go into effect for at least 6 more months.

President Clinton yesterday wisely suspended again Title III of the HelmsBurton law, which allows U.S. citizens to sue foreign companies trafficking in confiscated property in Cuba.

In announcing the suspen-sion for another six months, Mr. Clinton cited the "international momentum" that the law has created for promoting democracy in Cuba. He suggested that he would continue the suspensions indefinitely as long as "America's friends and allies" continue to work for democratic transition in Cuba. This is very good news on many accounts.

The Herald is on record as opposing Helms-Burton. First, because it cedes to Congress important foreign policy authority that should remain with the president. Second, because the law's Title IV places extraterritorial trade restrictions on foreign governments.

After Mr. Clinton signed HelmsBurton into law last year, international outcries caused him to name a special envoy, Undersecretary of Commerce Stuart Eizenstat, to travel abroad to explain its goals to U.S. allies. And that's when the "international momentum" began to build. Mr. Eizenstat did not convert U.S. allies to the wisdom of Helms-Burton. But he did persuade them of the need to pressure Fidel Castro's

The first concrete result came with the European Union's decision last month to condition economic aid and trade with Cuba on political reforms there.

Several similarly important responses followed. Among them:

-The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions issued an official denunciation of labor practices in Cuba.

-The Liberal Party International, made up of conservative, free-market parties in Europe, has called for an international conference on democracy in Cuba in the near future.

-Major nongovernamental organizations in Europe have developed a Platform for Human Rights and Democracy in Cuba. It's to be a coordinating mechanism to develop ways to strengthen Cuba's independent sector.

In suspending Title III, Mr. Clinton is thus rewarding all these initiatives. Whether or not Mr. Eizenstat's diplomacy would have yielded similar results without H½lms-Burton will always be debatable.

Yesterday, though, both Mr. Clinton and Mr. Eizenstat had reason to feel satisfied. They have certainly made major strides in building consensus on an international prodemocracy policy toward Cuba. And that, whatever one's view of Helms-Burton, is a development worthy of universal support.