US is to undermine Cuba's planned succession from Castro
A US presidential commission urged Washington to spend US$80 million (63 million Euro) to help nongovernment groups hasten a transition to democracy in Cuba.
The recommendations on Monday by the Presidential Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba come just as Fidel Castro's Cuban government is moving to strengthen its leadership and institutions to ensure the status quo.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice released the commission's report during a Washington news conference that international journalists in Havana followed by teleconference.
Rice said the report's recommendations "reflect America's resolve to stand with Cuba's brave opposition leaders: men and women who speak for those Cubans who are forced into fearful silence but who remain free in their hearts and in their minds. We are increasing our determination to break the regime's information blockade," Rice said. "And we are offering support for the efforts of Cubans to prepare for the day when they will recover their sovereignty and can select a government of their choosing through free and fair multiparty elections."
The US$80 million (63 million Euro) in new funds, to be spent over two years, is to include US$31 (24 million Euro) to support independent civil society on the island, US$10 million (7.8 million Euro) for scholarships in the United States and other countries, US$24 million (18.7 million Euro) to "break the Castro regime's information blockade" and expand access to independent information including through the Internet and US$15 million (11.7 million Euro) to support
international efforts at strengthening civil society and in transition planning.
The report calls for US aid to a transitional government in Cuba if such a government supports multiparty elections and a free-market economic model and if it asks for help.
"An undemocratic Cuba is a destabilising influence in our hemisphere, and we are sure that a free and prosperous Cuba will be a friend of the United States and will be welcomed back into the inter-American community of democracies," said Caleb McCarry, the State Department official in charge of the Cuba transition plan.
Cuba's National Information Agency on Monday called the report a "new plan of aggression" that violated the island's national sovereignty.
Senior officials in Fidel Castro's government last week criticised a draft version of the document as a blueprint for regime change, and suggested a classified section of the report could include plans of violence against the island.
The US commission update comes a month before Castro celebrates his 80th birthday and amid moves by the government to give a higher profile to his younger brother and designated successor, 75-year-old Defence Minister Raul Castro.
At the same time, Cuban leaders have strengthened the country's Communist Party by resurrecting an executive body called the Secretariat to reassert ideological control over the government and society.
Official US policy is to undermine Cuba's planned succession from Castro, who turns 80 on Aug. 13, to his younger brother.
US President George W. Bush appointed the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba in late 2003. Its first recommendations in May 2004 included a strengthening of US trade, financial and travel restrictions on the island.
Cuba has been under a US financial embargo since 1961; two years after the elder Castro came to power with the ousting of then-President Fulgencio Batista.
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[RUN FIDEL RUN!]
The recommendations on Monday by the Presidential Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba come just as Fidel Castro's Cuban government is moving to strengthen its leadership and institutions to ensure the status quo.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice released the commission's report during a Washington news conference that international journalists in Havana followed by teleconference.
Rice said the report's recommendations "reflect America's resolve to stand with Cuba's brave opposition leaders: men and women who speak for those Cubans who are forced into fearful silence but who remain free in their hearts and in their minds. We are increasing our determination to break the regime's information blockade," Rice said. "And we are offering support for the efforts of Cubans to prepare for the day when they will recover their sovereignty and can select a government of their choosing through free and fair multiparty elections."
The US$80 million (63 million Euro) in new funds, to be spent over two years, is to include US$31 (24 million Euro) to support independent civil society on the island, US$10 million (7.8 million Euro) for scholarships in the United States and other countries, US$24 million (18.7 million Euro) to "break the Castro regime's information blockade" and expand access to independent information including through the Internet and US$15 million (11.7 million Euro) to support
international efforts at strengthening civil society and in transition planning.
The report calls for US aid to a transitional government in Cuba if such a government supports multiparty elections and a free-market economic model and if it asks for help.
"An undemocratic Cuba is a destabilising influence in our hemisphere, and we are sure that a free and prosperous Cuba will be a friend of the United States and will be welcomed back into the inter-American community of democracies," said Caleb McCarry, the State Department official in charge of the Cuba transition plan.
Cuba's National Information Agency on Monday called the report a "new plan of aggression" that violated the island's national sovereignty.
Senior officials in Fidel Castro's government last week criticised a draft version of the document as a blueprint for regime change, and suggested a classified section of the report could include plans of violence against the island.
The US commission update comes a month before Castro celebrates his 80th birthday and amid moves by the government to give a higher profile to his younger brother and designated successor, 75-year-old Defence Minister Raul Castro.
At the same time, Cuban leaders have strengthened the country's Communist Party by resurrecting an executive body called the Secretariat to reassert ideological control over the government and society.
Official US policy is to undermine Cuba's planned succession from Castro, who turns 80 on Aug. 13, to his younger brother.
US President George W. Bush appointed the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba in late 2003. Its first recommendations in May 2004 included a strengthening of US trade, financial and travel restrictions on the island.
Cuba has been under a US financial embargo since 1961; two years after the elder Castro came to power with the ousting of then-President Fulgencio Batista.
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[RUN FIDEL RUN!]
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