US News
US will not reach out to Castro's brother
By Mike McCarthy
Aug 1, 2006, 19:00 GMT

Washington - The United States will not talk to Cuba's temporary leader, Raul Castro, to explore whether he wants to bring change to the communist island while filling in for his ailing brother Fidel, the White House said Tuesday.

'Raul Castro's attempt to impose himself on the Cuban people is much the same as what his brother did. So, no, there are no plans to reach out,' spokesman Tony Snow said, adding that Raul has served as Fidel's 'prison-keeper.'

Fidel Castro, 79, transferred power to Raul, 75, to undergo and recover from surgery to stop intestinal bleeding and is believed to be in serious condition, although the Cuban government said he is expected to recover. Castro has never ceded power in his 47 years of authoritarian rule.

US President George W Bush in 2003 set up a commission to explore ways to hasten the end of the Castro regime, plan for assisting a transition to democracy and address the humanitarian needs of Cubans if the regime collapses.

'In the event that Cuba does start to make a transition to a democracy the United States and the American people will do everything we can,' US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

'Clearly Fidel Castro's incapacitation or death would be a significant event for the Cuban people,' he said.

News that Castro ceded power prompted large celebrations on the streets of Miami in southern Florida, heavily populated with Cubans who fled Castro's regime. Many hoped that he will soon die and others speculated that the Cuban government might be hiding his death.

'The only person I wish death upon is Fidel Castro,' one demonstrator said in broadcast remarks.

Mel Martinez, a Cuban born US senator from Florida, said it was possible that Castro was already dead or at least incapable of returning to duty.

'There's a possibility that he may be very, very ill or dead,' Martinez told reporters in Washington. He added, however, that he had no details on Castro's condition beyond media reports.

'I don't think there would be an announcement such as this unless it was pretty clear that he was incapacitated beyond recovery in the short term,' he said.

Castro came to power in 1959 and was quickly identified as a threat to American interests. Disputes included the Cuban missile crisis and Washington's enactment of strict sanctions.

Bush has tightened the sanctions on the advice of the commission he established in December 2003. Bush, speaking before the announcement on Castro's health, told a Miami radio station that the United States would help Cubans improve their lives once Castro 'were to move on.'   Martinez, like most of the Cuban community in the United States, advocates a hardline US policy aimed at weakening the Castro government and driving it from power.

'Over 47 years, many of us have waited for a day when the people of Cuba would have a day without Fidel Castro, and I guess at the moment - at least on a temporary basis - that seems to be right now,' Martinez said.

Florida Governor Jeb Bush said the US Coast Guard and other agencies had plans in place to intercept Cuban attempts to flee to the United States, according to a Miami newspaper.

The US naval station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has contingency plans to deal with an exodus of Cubans onto the base, a Navy spokesman said.