With the news of Fidel Castro’s ill health, U.S. leaders are looking to facilitate a little regime change in Cuba. An AP report had this to say:
The White House and Congress, caught unaware by Fidel Castro's illness, prepared Wednesday for a possible showdown in Cuba as lawmakers drafted legislation that would give millions of dollars to dissidents who fight for democratic change.
"The message will be, `The United States stands with you,'" Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., one of the bill's authors, said in an interview. "Be ready to assert your independence."
For now, Bush administration officials and members of Congress were focused on offering dissidents cash for fighting for democratic change.
Legislation sponsored by Nelson, fellow Floridian Mel Martinez, Majority Leader Bill Frist and others would authorize as much as $80 million over two years - and pay half of that almost immediately - to dissidents and nongovernmental organizations on the island.
Recommended by a presidential commission three weeks ago, the legislation says those eligible for the money would include political prisoners, workers' rights organizations, independent libraries, journalists, doctors and economists.
Fidel's step down from power presents "a window of opportunity that is so important for the United States, for the American people and the international community to help the Cuban people free themselves," said Representative Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, also of Cuban descent.
The Bush team had such success with the Iraqi National Congress and Ahmad Chalabi that it is recruiting again. I want to know when the Bush team will fund American dissidents looking to restore our democracy?
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