Cuban dissidents reject Bush pro-democracy plan
11.05.2004 11.28 am
HAVANA - Leading Cuban dissidents on Monday rejected US President George W Bush's plans to speed up a democratic transition in communist-run Cuba and said US meddling would not help bring political change.
The White House announced steps on Thursday to spend US$36 million ($59.10 million) on promoting democratic change in Cuba and blocking a communist succession when President Fidel Castro dies.
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"This is a total interference that does not benefit the building of democracy in Cuba," said moderate dissident Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo, who criticised Bush's policy in a statement he handed in at the US diplomatic mission in Havana.
"The United States has no right to set the pace of a transition in Cuba. It is humiliating," said Manuel Cuesta Morua, another moderate who accompanied Gutierrez Menoyo.
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