By IANS
Washington : US will not tolerate the transition from one dictator to another in Cuba, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said, according to Spanish news agency EFE.
Speaking to reporters here Monday, Rice said Cubans "have the right to liberty" and when the political transition takes place, Washington will support Cuba "as it holds free elections".
She did not say what, if anything, Washington would do to stop the ailing Fidel Castro from passing on the mantle of leadership to younger brother Raul, who has been Cuba's acting president since the octogenarian Cuban leader underwent surgery last July.
Since Fidel's decision almost a year ago to designate Raul Castro, 75, as Cuba's "provisional" president, the US has increased its calls for the Castro regime to be replaced by a democratic government.
Despite assassination plots – including one detailed in recently declassified CIA documents – and Washington's 45-year-old economic embargo against the Havana government, Castro has outlasted nine US presidents.