In an emotional speech before a group that included the relatives of Cuban political prisoners, President Bush made clear yesterday that the confrontational U.S. policy toward Havana will last through the end of his time in office. But the emerging question is whether it will extend beyond his presidency, with lawmakers and politicians in both parties raising questions about the wisdom of the long-standing U.S. approach.
Appearing at the State Department, the president offered Cuba computers and Internet access -- as well as scholarships for its youth -- but only if Havana relaxes restrictions on such activities. He announced efforts to create an international "freedom fund" for Cuba that would finance reconstruction once the government offers free speech and free elections.
 "And now is the time for the world to put aside its differences and prepare for Cuba's transition to a future of freedom and progress and promise," President Bush said in a speech at the State Department. (By Melina Mara -- The Washington Post)  Bush Touting Cuban Life After Castro |
Bush also had pointed words for other countries that have criticized the U.S. strategy of isolation as counterproductive. "Now is the time to stand with the Cuban people as they stand up for their liberty," Bush said. "And now is the time for the world to put aside its differences and prepare for Cuba's transition to a future of freedom and progress and promise.
"The dissidents of today will be the nation's leaders tomorrow -- and when freedom finally comes, they will surely remember who stood with them," he said.
The speech included the president's most detailed remarks on Cuba in four years and came as the country has undergone its first transfer of power in half a century. An ailing Fidel Castro turned over power to his brother Raul more than a year ago, and the administration had been hoping that the move would relax the Communist Party's control and speed the arrival of democracy. But such a transition has not materialized. Bush said there will be no fundamental change in U.S. policy -- such as lifting trade restrictions -- until Cuba's rulers provide political freedom.
Beyond the White House, however, a vigorous debate has been proceeding over whether the U.S. approach makes sense. Farm-state lawmakers in both parties have wanted trade sanctions lifted to permit agriculture trade, while other politicians have questioned restrictions on travel and on the amount of money Cubans living in the United States may send back to their relatives.
Even in South Florida -- the heart of anti-Castro sentiment -- Democratic pollster Sergio Bendixen has detected an easing of the hard-line stance, as the children of first-generation Cuban emigres are gradually becoming politically active, as are those who came after the Mariel boatlift of 1980. "For a new president, the road will be open to considering a new approach," he said.
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is one of a small number of presidential candidates who have broken with the orthodoxy on Cuba. "To help advance democratic change in Cuba, we need to grant Cuban Americans the unfettered ability to visit family on the island and to send them remittances," he said in a statement yesterday. "It's time to break from George Bush's status quo."
Rep. Jeff Flake (Ariz.), one of a number of Republicans pushing for a new approach, predicted that Fidel Castro's death will be the catalyst for a reevaluation of Cuba policy. "You will have a lot of people on Capitol Hill who will feel released from their position and will want a more rational approach," he said.
But Bush administration officials and their allies see little erosion in congressional support for their position, and the leading GOP candidates for president -- not to mention Democratic front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) -- favor keeping the current policies in place. "I haven't heard any of them deviate from the current course," said Al Cardenas, a Cuban American and former Florida GOP chairman, who was present at yesterday's speech.
Bush's tough language was warmly received in the handpicked audience in the State Department's ornate Benjamin Franklin room, which appeared filled by Cuban American leaders, diplomats and politicians sympathetic to Bush's view. Six family members of Cuban political prisoners were on hand, and several teared up as the president recognized their relatives.
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), another prominent Cuban American, said much will depend on what happens inside Cuba in the months ahead. "I don't see anything the regime has done to merit a change in policy," he said. "A year from now, a president will have to look at the dynamics in Cuba and be fluid enough to respond to changed dynamics."
