| The U.S. State Department's top official for | | | | frankly we don't see any significant |
| Latin America said Wednesday Cuba's | | | | possibility of change of any kind until Fidel |
| government has become more hard-line since | | | | is gone." |
| the ailing Fidel Castro transferred power to | | | | |
| his brother Raul in late July. Assistant | | | | Shannon said the United States has no |
| Secretary of State Thomas Shannon says U.S. | | | | independent information on the condition of |
| officials see no reformer in the current | | | | Fidel Castro, who underwent intestinal |
| Cuban political lineup. VOA's David Gollust | | | | surgery in July, but he termed it significant |
| reports from the State Department. | | | | that the Cuban leader was not able to make an |
| | | | appearance at the birthday events early this |
| Raul Castro made an overture for dialogue | | | | month. |
| with the United States in a speech December 2 | | | | |
| at a rally marking his brother's 80th | | | | He said if the past is any indicator, Raul |
| birthday. | | | | Castro, known as a brutal enforcer of |
| | | | communist rule, will not be an agent of |
| But the State Department's top diplomat for | | | | change in Cuba and none of the other senior |
| Latin America says if anything, the communist | | | | figures in the hierarchy have shown any signs |
| government in Havana has become more rigid | | | | of being reformers either. |
| and orthodox since the transfer of power, and | | | | |
| the Raul Castro gesture is not being viewed | | | | Shannon said after Fidel Castro passes from |
| here as a real opportunity for change. | | | | the scene, Cuban leaders will have a |
| | | | strategic choice to make: |
| In a talk with reporters, Assistant Secretary | | | | |
| of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs | | | | "Once he goes, the successor government is |
| Thomas Shannon gave a bleak assessment of | | | | going to have to chart out some kind of path |
| prospects for early change in U.S.-Cuban | | | | into the future," he added. "The question is |
| relations. | | | | what kind of path does it chart out? Does it |
| | | | chart out a path that only deepens the |
| He said there is no doubt that responsibility | | | | repression and deepens the misery? Or does it |
| for running day-to-day affairs in Cuba has | | | | attempt to chart out a path that is one of |
| been passed to Raul Castro, the longtime | | | | engagement with the world and an opening, |
| defense minister, but that there is no hint | | | | both political and economic. But there are no |
| of change in the government's approach: | | | | clear signals about what that path is going |
| | | | to be." |
| "With Fidel still alive, the regime has | | | | |
| actually become harder, more orthodox," he | | | | Shannon said the Bush administration is |
| said. "And it's not in a position to signal | | | | comfortable with the terms of the 1996 |
| in any meaningful way, what direction it will | | | | Helms-Burton Act from Congress, which forbids |
| take post-Fidel. So we don't feel that we've | | | | U.S. recognition of any transitional Cuban |
| lost an important moment, because quite | | | | government that includes Raul Castro. |