President Bush OKs Sending Cell Phones to Cuban Relatives

Americans will be able to send mobile phones to relatives in Cuba under a new policy designed to challenge the nascent reforms of Cuban leader Raul Castro.

President George W. Bush unveiled the policy in a speech that pressed Havana to expand personal freedoms, open up the Cuban economy and release political prisoners. But the White House indicated that its stance on mobile phones won''t affect U.S.''s long-standing trade embargo on Cuba.

Bush said Castro''s recent decision to let Cubans purchase cell phones, DVD players, computers and other appliances doesn''t go far enough, particularly with most of those products still too costly for most Cubans. The new policy will let U.S. citizens give phones to family members in Cuba and maintain their accounts with service providers.

"Now that the Cuban people can be trusted with mobile phones, they should be trusted to speak freely in public," Bush said. "If Raul''s serious about his so-called reforms, he will allow these phones to reach the Cuban people."

Dan Fisk, National Security Council senior director For Western Hemisphere affairs, said the cell phone policy is consistent with the trade embargo. He said allowing the Cuban people to own phones won''t enrich the Castro regime, which the administration believes would be the result of lifting the embargo. Fisk wouldn''t estimate how many phones the administration expects to reach the island, but noted that there are 1.5 million Cuban-Americans.

"This is not a loosening of the embargo," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

Bush''s focus on Cuba comes a day after presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain and Democratic frontrunner Barack Obama sparred over policy toward Havana. McCain, in a speech to Cuban-Americans, said he would maintain the trade embargo and took aim at Obama''s willingness to sit down with Castro. Obama hit back by accusing McCain of supporting a failed policy.

In addition to loosening U.S. policy on mobile phones, Bush called for Castro to respect human rights, implement economic reforms and end restrictions on internet access.

"Experience tells us, this regime has no intention of taking these steps," Bush said. "Instead its recent gestures appear to be nothing more than a cruel joke perpetuated on a long-suffering people. America refuses to be deceived, and so do the Cuban people."



Source:Dow Jones Newswires