CUBA

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11 August 2006
U.S. Officials See Cuba Beginning Process of Political Change

By Eric Green
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- While the health of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro remains a matter of great speculation, it seems evident that Cuba is at the beginning of political change, says Thomas Shannon, the U.S. State Department's assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs.

At a joint briefing August 11 with the State Department's Cuba transition coordinator Caleb McCarry, the assistant secretary added that the question facing the Cuban people and the international community is what kind of change faces the Caribbean nation.

Shannon said the fact Castro has not been seen since the Cuban government's announcement July 31 that the dictator was undergoing surgery for intestinal bleeding is "indicative obviously of a serious medical condition." (See related article.)

Shannon said, however, "we don't know how serious" Castro's condition is, "we don't know what the level of recovery is, and we're really not in a position to predict" what will happen in the subsequent days in Cuba.

The assistant secretary said U.S. policy toward Cuba, as previously enunciated by President Bush and other administration officials, remains consistent. That policy, Shannon said, involves "pushing for a transition to democracy and trying to create political space within Cuba where Cubans can actually begin to have a dialogue among themselves about the future."

Shannon said Castro's illness presents several contrasting scenarios for Cuba. One scenario, he said, could be that Cuba is at a "moment of great change." But Cuba could also be at a moment where the Castro regime is "hardening" as it attempts to assert its control over the Cuban people, he said.

Shannon said these great unknowns highlight the importance of U.S. policy consistency toward Cuba, in which the Cuban people can have the "guarantees of political liberty" and the "mechanisms necessary" to conduct elections so that the Cubans "can freely express their views and opinions as to who their leaders should be."

The assistant secretary added that the United States recognizes that Cuba's transition to democracy will be a "process," in which all the "twists and "turns" cannot be predicted. It is for the Cuban people to press for change on Cuba's regime "which for 47 years has dominated them through fear and violence," he said.

The official added that the U.S. Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba has released two reports, and the United States has committed a total of $129 million to assist in the Cuban transition to democracy. That money, he said, "underscores" the U.S. commitment to the Cuban people, to democracy in Cuba, "to help the Cuban people have an opportunity to determine their own future." (See related article.)

McCarry reiterated Shannon's observation that the U.S. funding is designed to let the Cubans determine their own course.

He said a number of "brave Cubans at great risk to themselves" are presently speaking out in Cuba about their views and their desires for a democratic nation. The United States, he said, is supporting their efforts that "provides a path that leads to free and fair elections, and a future of economic prosperity" in Cuba.

Additional information on the U.S. Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, is available on the commission’s Web site.

For information on U.S. policy, see Cuba.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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