Comment Of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)
On The Resignation Of Cuban President Fidel Castro
February 19, 2008

“For years we have had a failed policy toward Cuba that is beneath a great and good nation like ours. Our policy is as much a relic of the past as is Cuba’s communist regime. It has done nothing to defeat communism but has actually strengthened it there. Momentum has been building in recent years for our efforts to make sensible changes in our policy, and as Castro fades from the scene, that momentum will continue to build. I hope today’s news brings Cuba closer to the release of prisoners of conscience and to an era of democratic reforms.”

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