Bush Urges Cubans to Work for Democracy

President Bush speaks to a group about immigration policy at Anzalduas County Park and Dam in Mission, Texas, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2006. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (Evan Vucci - AP)

WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Thursday urged the people of Cuba to work for democratic change and warned the U.S. would watch for Cuban officials who stand in the way.

"We will support you in your effort to build a transitional government in Cuba committed to democracy, and we will take note of those, in the current Cuban regime, who obstruct your desire for a free Cuba," Bush said in statement issued by the White House.

His secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, said on CNN's "Larry King Live" that a transition in one way or another "appears to be under way" in Cuba.

Bush, who left Washington Thursday for his ranch in Texas, said the United States was actively monitoring the situation in Cuba.

Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Monday transferred temporary control of the country to his brother, Raul, while he had surgery for intestinal bleeding. Neither man has been seen in public since the announcement, though a statement said Fidel Castro was in good spirits and beginning his recovery.

"At this time of uncertainty in Cuba, one thing is clear: The United States is absolutely committed to supporting the Cuban people's aspirations for democracy and freedom," Bush said. He added that he hoped all democratic nations would unite to support the right of the Cuban people to define a future for their country.

In the event of a change in the Cuban government, Bush said the United States would provide humanitarian assistance as needed.

"It has long been the hope of the United States to have a free, independent and democratic Cuba as a close friend and neighbor," Bush said. "In achieving this, the Cuban people can count on the full and unconditional support of the United States."

Rice said the U.S. goal is a new Cuba in which the people are able to choose the people who govern them. CNN provided text of the interview prior to its broadcast Thursday night.

"The time will come when there is going to be a free Cuba," Rice said. "The time will come when we are no longer talking about the only state in the entire Western Hemisphere in which you don't have an elected leader."

In Miami's Cuban community, the president's words drew praise from Alfredo Mesa, spokesman for the Cuban American National Foundation. Bush's statement "legitimatizes and protects" those in the current Cuban regime who may seek to form a new transition government, Mesa said.

However, an attorney for the nonprofit democracy movement, William Sanchez, urged the president to go further by calling on Cuba to set a timetable for holding elections.

Sanchez also urged Bush to let Cuban Americans go to Cuba by boat to peacefully help with a political transition. Current U.S. policy halts such flotillas before they enter Cuban waters.