U.S. Warns Of Plans To "Liberate" Cuba"

This from Democracy Now - PolPop

The State Department's top official in Latin America has announced that President Bush is committed to the "liberation of Cuba" during the next four years. Roger Noriega said last week Washington already has a blueprint of plans for a post-Castro Cuba to prevent Castro's supporters from retaining control of the country after his death. Noriega said Washington wants to "ensure that vestiges of the regime don't hold on." He added "The transition essentially is under way today." Ricardo Alarcon, the speaker of Cuba's Parliament, warned the U.S. would fail in any such efforts. Alarcon said, "If they try it, they have to attack Cuba, then use military occupation and then attempt a regime change. They can attempt it, they can try, but they will be handed a defeat they will never forget." In other news from Cuba, the government released journalist Jorge Olivera from jail Monday. He is the seventh dissident freed in the past week.