Lifting Embargo on Cuba Still on the Table U.S. Official Says

18 August 2006
Lifting Embargo on Cuba "Still on the Table," U.S. Official Says

State's Shannon says world community can help democracy take root in Cuba

By Eric Green
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The European Union and other members of the global
community can play an important role in helping Cuba make a transition
to democracy, says Thomas Shannon, the U.S. State Department's assistant
secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs.

In an August 17 video conference with an audience in the Czech
Republic's capital of Prague, Shannon said the Europeans can make it
clear to the Cuban regime that they will not tolerate increased
repression once Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, reportedly suffering from
serious health problems, is no longer capable of "being present as a
political leader."

Shannon repeated the U.S. offer to consider lifting its trade embargo on
Havana if the Cuban regime fulfills a number of requirements, such as
releasing political prisoners; guaranteeing fundamental freedoms, such
as freedom of speech and association; allowing the creation of
organizations that are independent of the state, including trade unions,
neighborhood associations, and political parties; and starting a
"pathway" that leads to free and fair elections.

The assistant secretary said President Bush offered in a 2002 speech "to
look at how the embargo could be lifted," but Castro rejected the offer.

"The offer is still on the table," Shannon emphasized. He said U.S.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.S. Secretary of Commerce
Carlos Gutierrez, co-chairs of the U.S. Commission for Assistance to a
Free Cuba (CAFC), have noted that the United States wants to "find a way
to engage with Cuba as it makes its transition to democracy. We want to
find a way to be helpful as Cubans begin to build and develop a
democratic state." (See related article.)

But in Shannon's view the members of Castro's regime have "no intention
of giving up power." The "powerbrokers" in the regime, such as Castro's
brother and designated successor, Raul Castro, "will do everything they
can to maintain the totalitarian state."

"This is where we believe the international community" can make its
opposition clear about such a political course, Shannon said.

At the same time, Shannon reiterated the U.S. view that the Cuban people
themselves must drive a transition to democracy in Cuba.

"Neither the United States nor other members of the international
community can impose any kind of political situation in Cuba," Shannon
said. "What happens in Cuba is something that is going to be determined
by the Cuban people."

Shannon said the strength of the international community's voice on
promoting democracy in Cuba "is going to depend on the degree to which
we all speak together. Therefore, we will work very, very hard to make
sure that our voice and others are part of a concerted effort, as
opposed to a diverse or disintegrated effort."

The official said the United States is part of a global consensus that
reincorporating Cuba into the larger community of democratic nations
"has to be one of the primary diplomatic goals" of the international
community.

Shannon said Fidel Castro "is in the midst of a very serious health
crisis," but the severity of his illness is unknown because the Cuban
state is "opaque."

Cuba's government, he said, "does not see information as something that
it shares with its citizens or the world. Quite the contrary, it sees
information as something that it guards and uses for political purposes."

But Shannon said it is "evident" that at "80 years of age and suffering
from significant health problems that the ability of Fidel Castro to
continue to play an active role in the day-to-day management of the
Cuban state is ending."

Shannon said that "what we are seeing ... is the beginnings of a
slow-motion transfer of power from Fidel Castro, a revolutionary leader,
to individuals who represent the different institutions of a
totalitarian state."

As the process moves forward, Shannon said, "we believe that now is an
important time for the United States and the international community and
those interested in democracy, such as civil society and
non-governmental organizations, to begin talking about what a transition
to democracy in Cuba should look like, and what expectations the
international community has for that transition."

Shannon said the United States anticipates that such a transition will
be peaceful, and that it will be determined by how the Cuban government
responds "to what I think is an increasing effort within Cuban society
to organize itself and start some kind of national dialogue about Cuba's
future."

Shannon said that ultimately, the political path Cuba chooses "lies with
the Cuban people, because at the end of the day it's up to Cubans to
determine how this transition will take place and what Cuba's national
future will be."

http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2006&m=August&x=200608181119581xeneerg8.555239e-02&chanlid=wha