Bush to speak on Cuba

From White House Press Secretary Dana Perino’s briefing today:

Q Yes, Cuba, tomorrow, on the President -- he's meeting with these families, and speaking afterward. A couple of weeks ago he called for the beginning of a democratic transition in Cuba. Has he seen any sign of anything like that?

MS. PERINO: No, in fact, the President continues to be disappointed that the people of Cuba aren't being given the chance for a free and prosperous life. And he will continue to meet with the families of political prisoners in Cuba. It affects him deeply. I think you saw, when he was here at the press conference last week, he feels very passionately about these people and it weighs on him that there's so much sadness, when that island, just 90 miles to the south of the United States, could be such a thriving place if just given a chance to have democracy.

Q And those who say that the beginning of a democratic transition might be encouraged by lifting the American embargo?

MS. PERINO: The President spoke to that last week, and he said that one of the things that he will not do is lift an embargo so that people who are the elites in Cuba, who are repressing everybody else, would benefit from that, and that the people who are the workers in the country would continue to be repressed. And the President just cannot accept that. Remember, this embargo, it's not the President's policy, it's longstanding United States policy that the President has continued.