Bush takes parting swipe at communist Cuba

Bush takes parting swipe at communist Cuba
Mon Jan 19, 2009 1:35pm GMT
By Matt Spetalnick

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush took a parting swipe at
communist Cuba on Tuesday, saying it was a cruel dictatorship that had
responded to U.S. appeals for democratic reform with more repression of
its people.

Bush's statement, issued a week before he hands over to his successor
Barack Obama, was a reminder he will leave office with the Castro
government still entrenched in power despite a 46-year-old U.S. embargo
against the island.

"As much of the world celebrates the dawning of a new year, Cuba marks
50 years of one of the cruelest dictatorships this hemisphere has
witnessed," Bush said, referring to the anniversary of Cuba's revolution
that brought Fidel Castro to power.

The ailing 82-year-old Castro handed over the presidency last year to
his younger brother Raul, who has undertaken only a handful of reforms
such as allowing Cubans to buy computers, cell phones and DVD players.

Bush's Republican administration has deemed the changes insufficient,
saying sanctions should not be eased until Havana releases political
prisoners and allows free expression.

Obama, a Democrat, has pledged to soften restrictions on family travel
and remittances but said he would keep the embargo as leverage to
influence changes in the one-party state.

He has said he would be ready to pursue diplomacy with Cuba's leaders if
conditions were right, something Bush has resisted doing.

"My administration has continually challenged the Cuban government to
bring genuine political and economic changes and improve human rights,
and has made it clear that the United States stands prepared to respond
to any request for assistance from a Cuba that transitions to
democracy," Bush said.

"The Castro regime's response to our offers has been continued
repression of the Cuban people," he added.

Cuba has long blamed its economic woes on the U.S. embargo, though
successive U.S. administrations have pinned the blame on Havana's policies.

The Council of the Americas, a leading business group, issued a report
this week recommending that Obama reinvigorate U.S. trade ties in Latin
America and the Caribbean during his first 90 days in office by
softening the most punitive sanctions on Cuba.

(Editing by Eric Beech)

http://uk.reuters.com/article/globalNews/idUKTRE50I2WR20090119?sp=true