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By Alex Veiga, Associated Press Writer. Thu May 30, 6:43 PM ET.
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida - The United States must support opposition groups
in Cuba to ensure that Fidel Castro's 43-year communist government does not
continue without him, the top U.S. diplomat to Cuba said Thursday.
Vicki Huddleston, chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, said Cuba's
troubled economy, the increased visibility of opposition groups and a growing
debate within Cuba's government between hard-liners and "pragmatists"
have set the stage for a transition.
"The scene is set for change," Huddleston said at a local civic
group luncheon. "Never before in Cuba has the government faced an
opposition. This gives us a unique opportunity."
Huddleston cited the emergence of Project Varela, a signature-gathering
campaign by dissidents designed to force a referendum on political reforms. The
organizers collected more than 11,000 signatures and gave them to the Cuban
National Assembly during former President Jimmy Carter's recent visit to Cuba.
Still, echoing statements made by President George W. Bush in Miami last
week, Huddleston stressed that the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba and
restrictions on Americans' travel to the island should not be lifted before
there is political change there.
Huddleston also praised Carter's trip to Cuba, which drew some criticism
from the Bush administration.
During his five-day trip, Carter met with Castro and dissidents. He
addressed the nation on television and called for Cuba's government to embrace
democratic change but also said the United States should end economic sanctions
as a gesture of good will.
"(Carter) legitimized the dissidents, the human rights activists and
made them an opposition," she said.
Carter and other critics argue that the restrictions have failed to force a
change in Castro's government while making life tough on ordinary Cubans.
Cuba's government also has repeatedly criticized the embargo and urged its
elimination. | 
