CUBA/USA: While U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke directly to the people of Cuba, Cuban government officials disregarded the message

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke directly to the people of Cuba in a taped message Friday (August 4, 2006) released by the State Department. She told Cubans that the United States is watching events in Cuba very closely and that America maintains its commitment to support a "future freedom in Cuba". Rice said that she hoped that future will be defined by the Cuban people themselves. "The United States respects your aspirations as sovereign citizens and we will stand with you to secure your rights, to speak as you choose, to think as you please, to worship as you wish and to choose your leaders freely and fairly in democratic elections. All Cubans who desire peaceful democratic change can count on the support of the United States," She said. Rice spoke as Cuban leader Fidel Castro is recovering from surgery and amidst growing uncertainty over the future of the island that Castro has ruled for nearly half a century. Meanwhile in Havana, Culture Minister Abel Prieto disregarded Rice's message to the Cuban people as pandering to Cubans in Miami. "I think all those messages are just pure rhetoric for Miami (referring to the Cuban community residing in Miami). There may be terrible and sinister plans. Those messages are not for Cubans in the island. Condolezza Rice who seems to be the reasonably smart one in that group, as opposed to Bush, knows that message is going to find no receptive listeners in this country. Nobody in Cuba is going to listen to a message coming from an official from a foreign government. That has no value to us Cubans." White House spokesperson Tony Snow dismissed rumors that the United States is planning an invasion of Cuba. In Miami, Cuban exiles like Fidel Castro's sister Juanita, who owns a pharmacy just blocks away from Miami's Little Havana district, said Friday (August 04) the latest information she received regarding her brother's health is that he is stable. "Well, recently, about two or three days ago, he was taken out of intensive care and there has been a slight improvement after his stomach surgery and that is all I have been able to find out," Juanita Castro said. On Friday, Cuban state media said Raul Castro had firm control of the communist-ruled island and expressed support for their ailing leader while Fidel Castro was in the hospital. However uncertainty over Cuba's future grew as both men stayed out of public view. Fidel Castro, 79, handed over power temporarily to his younger brother on Monday after surgery for gastrointestinal bleeding. The news has created a tide of speculation over whether his rigid rule was about to end. It was the first time since his 1959 guerrilla victory that Castro, one of the most iconic and controversial world leaders of the past 50 years, had delegated power to anyone else.

ITN Source | August 5, 2006

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