[Marxism] Candidates to Cuba: Release prisoners (AP)

[Anthony Boynton]

 Candidates to Cuba: Release prisoners

By JOAN LOWY, Associated Press Writer 34 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Presidential candidates Hillary Rodham
Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain called for the
release of political prisoners in Cuba following Fidel
Castro's resignation Tuesday.
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All three candidates also said the United States
should look for ways to encourage democratic reforms
in Cuba.

"We need a president who will work with countries
around the world — Europe, Western hemisphere — to
push Cuba now to join the community of nations and
become a democracy, and I will certainly do that as
president," Clinton told patrons at a diner in Parma,
Ohio, where she is campaigning ahead of the state's
March 4 Democratic primary.

In a statement released by her campaign, the New York
senator said that if elected president, "I will engage
our partners in Latin America and Europe who have a
strong stake in seeing a peaceful transition to
democracy in Cuba, and who want very much for the
United States to play a constructive role to that end.
The United States must pursue an active policy that
does everything possible to advance the cause of
freedom, democracy and opportunity in Cuba."

Obama, who is waging a hard-fought campaign with
Clinton for the Democratic nomination, also urged that
the U.S. be prepared to take steps to normalize
relations with Cuba and to ease the trade embargo of
the last five decades if the Cuban leadership "begins
opening Cuba to meaningful democratic change."

Castro's resignation "should mark the end of a dark
era in Cuba's history. ... Fidel Castro's stepping
down is an essential first step, but it is sadly
insufficient in bringing freedom to Cuba," Obama, an
Illinois senator, said in a statement.

"Cuba's future should be determined by the Cuban
people and not by an anti-democratic successor
regime," Obama said. "The prompt release of all
prisoners of conscience wrongly jailed for standing up
for the basic freedoms too long denied to the Cuban
people would mark an important break with the past.
It's time for these heroes to be released."

Republican McCain underscored that "freedom for the
Cuban people is not yet at hand" despite Castro's
resignation.

"We must press the Cuban regime to release all
political prisoners unconditionally, to legalize all
political parties, labor unions and free media, and to
schedule internationally monitored elections," the
Arizona senator said in a statement.

"Cuba's transition to democracy is inevitable; it is a
matter of when not if. With the resignation of Fidel
Castro, the Cuban people have an opportunity to move
forward and continue pushing for the moment that they
will truly be free. America can and should help hasten
the sparking of freedom in Cuba. The Cuban people have
waited long enough."

The ailing, 81-year-old Castro resigned as Cuba's
president after nearly a half-century in power. His
76-year-old brother Raul, who has hinted at political
reforms, has been ruling in his place since June 2006.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who significantly
trails McCain in the contest for the GOP nomination,
was pessimistic regarding the opportunity for
democratic reforms as a result of Castro's stepping
down.

"Until Fidel Castro is dead, there can be no
significant movement towards reform in Cuba," Huckabee
said in a statement. "Raul Castro has proven that he's
as much a tyrant and dictator as his brother, Fidel.
Simply providing more power to another dictator does
nothing to promote freedom and democracy to the Cuban people."


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