President Bush Announces Initiative for a New Cuba
     Read the President's Remarks

The President announced today his Initiative for a New Cuba. This initiative, the result of a policy review conducted by the White House, is an effort to bring Cuba into the Western Hemisphere’s community of democracies.

• The Initiative calls on the Cuban government to undertake political and economic reforms and conduct free and fair elections next year for the National Assembly.
• The Initiative challenges the Cuban government to open its economy, allow independent trade unions, and end discriminatory practices against Cuban workers.
• If the Cuban government takes these concrete steps toward democracy, President Bush will work with the United States Congress to ease the ban on trade and travel between the United States and Cuba.

The United States has long maintained that the Cuban government must move to a democratic system that fully respects the human rights of its people. This will remain the Administration’s policy.

The Initiative for a New Cuba reaches out to the Cuban people immediately with the following new steps to make life better for people living under Castro’s rule:

• facilitating meaningful humanitarian assistance to the Cuban people by American religious and other non-governmental groups;
• providing direct assistance to the Cuban people through non-governmental organizations;
• calling for the resumption of direct mail service to and from Cuba; and
• establishing scholarships in the United States for Cuban students and professionals trying to build independent civil institutions and for family members of political prisoners.