MR. RUSSERT: Before you go, Madame Secretary, how sick is Fidel Castro?
DR. RICE: I don?t know, Tim. It?s a very closed society, obviously. Keeps its secrets well. But what the United States has been sending is a message to the Cuban people that change is clearly under way, that the United States stands clearly and with people who want a more democratic future in Cuba. We will stand for their right for free elections, to say what they think, to worship as they please. And we will help organize the international community to support them in any way needed.
We have put aside important humanitarian efforts that could be made on their behalf, and my message to the Cuban people would be that they have an opportunity, as this unfolds at home, to build a stable and more democratic Cuba.
MR. RUSSERT: USA Today reports that the Bush administration has dedicated assistance ?to prepare the Cuban military forces to adjust to an appropriate role in a democracy.? What does that mean?
DR. RICE: This simply means, Tim, that we?ve done some far-ranging thinking about, when the transition really does come in Cuba, how Cuba might have institutions of democracy. That?s all that means.
But I want to lay one thing to rest: the notion that, somehow, the United States is going to invade Cuba because there are troubles in Cuba, is simply far-fetched, and it?s simply not true. The United States wants to be a partner and a friend for the Cuban people as they move through this period of difficulty and as they move ahead. But what Cuba should not have is the replacement of one dictator by another. The United States will support a democratic and peaceful process. But this is simply the?trying to think through how we might help the Cuban people have more democratic institutions when that time comes.
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MR. RUSSERT: And we will not a mass exodus out of the United States or out of Cuba?
DR. RICE: The United States really feels very strongly, and we?ve worked to tell the Cuban people that their future is at home. And no, a mass exodus is not, not to be expected, nor would it be condoned.
MR. RUSSERT: Of Cuban Americans back to Cuba, as well?
DR. RICE: Our view, Tim, is that this is a time in which a lot is unfolding in Cuba, we?re watching it very carefully. Our role right now is to make clear the kind of future that we see for Cuba, and to be prepared to help the Cuban people toward that future. It is also our role to give a sense of, of calm and stability as things go forward. And the president has been very focused on this, I?ve been very focused on it. The Cuban people deserve our respect and they deserve our support. And they will get it.
MR. RUSSERT: But you will not allow Cuban Americans to return back to Cuba en masse?
DR. RICE: Tim, we are not going to do anything to stoke a sense of crisis or a sense of instability in Cuba. This is a transitional period for the Cuban people. We are going to stand with them for the proposition that there should not simply be the return from?or the end of one dictatorship and the imposition of another dictatorship. And we are working with partners in the international community to send that message very strongly.
But our role will be to help the Cuban people, when the time comes, to have a peaceful and, and stable democratic transition.
MR. RUSSERT: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, we thank you very much for your views.
DR. RICE: Thank you, Tim.
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