Cuba on Friday slammed United States plans to tighten sanctions on the communist country as ”cruel and cowardly”, with the Communist Party insisting it will stand strong against US President George Bush’s ”putrid ideology”.
”His cruel and cowardly measures surely will impose some sacrifices on our people, but they will not stop for a single second its strides toward human and social goals” a Cuban Communist Party statement said.
US military planes will broadcast pro-democracy messages into Cuba as part of a plan Bush endorsed on Thursday to ”hasten” Cuban leader Fidel Castro’s departure.
Washington will also tighten restrictions on Cuban-Americans’ cash remittances to relatives on the island and limit family visits between the US and Cuba to one every three years, officials said in Washington.
The goals are to ”undermine” Castro’s plans that his brother, Raul, succeed him; speed up Cuba’s ”transition to democracy”; and put in place US programmes and policies in anticipation of what Washington sees as the eventual defeat of Cuban communism, US officials said.
This ”is a strategy that says we’re not waiting for the day of Cuban freedom, we are working for the day of freedom in Cuba”, Bush said after meeting with the panel, which he created to recommend a tougher line on Havana, as the November 2 presidential election looms.
Florida, home to about 800 000 Cuban-Americans, is considered likely to be a key state in the election. — Sapa-AFP