Cuba Transition Coordinator Caleb McCarry

Statement by Cuba Transition Coordinator Caleb McCarry

Treaty Room
Washington, DC
July 28, 2005

Madam Secretary, thank you for your leadership on behalf of a free Cuba. I am honored that you have entrusted me with this opportunity to serve our country and the cause of freedom.

I want to also thank my friend and mentor, Roger Noriega, for his confidence in me. I thank the Members of Congress, my colleagues and friends, and all the representatives of the Cuban-American community for being here today.

Most of all, I want to thank my wife Nan, and our wonderful children, Will and Caroline, for their love and support.

The United States of America is and will always be the friend of the Cuban people. The report of the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba is an intelligent, generous and, above all, respectful offer and commitment of support to the Cuban people.

While the dictatorship formulates its plans to perpetuate itself in power in darkness, the Commission's report is a public document. It is not an imposition, but a comprehensive statement of what the United States is prepared to do to help the Cuban people secure the liberty and prosperity that are their right.

For 46 years, the dictatorship has willfully and cruelly divided the Cuban family. It will be Cubans brave souls on the island itself and from around the world who will determine the future of a free Cuba. It is the responsibility of the civilized world to act to see that the Cuban family is reunited under political and economic freedom.

Nuestro compromiso es ver el día cuando todos los cubanos del mundo, en gozo de plena libertad, podrán pronunciar desde cada rincón de la patria de Martí la frase que de labios de los Mambises nació: ¡Viva Cuba Libre!

Released on July 28, 2005

ENDS

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