Bush, on Fla. Stump, Urges Castro to Grant ‘More Freedom’ in Cuba : President Wants Havana to Join Wave of Openness

President Bush, stumping for a Cuban-American Republican candidate, today ruled out normalization of U.S. relations with Cuba unless President Fidel Castro allows “more freedom for his own people.”

In remarks at a fund-raiser on behalf of Republican congressional candidate Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in a city long a magnet for Cuban emigres, Bush said he will look for indications that Castro will follow the moves toward openness exhibited by many of his Soviet Bloc allies.

“Someday I’d like to see improved--yes, normalized--relations with Cuba. But that cannot and it will not be as long as Castro violates the human rights of his own people; as long as he, almost alone in the entire world now, swims against the tide that is bringing sweeping change, democracy and freedom to closed societies around the world,” he said.

“As President, I will look for signs that Castro wants to move away from subverting his neighbors, move toward more openness, more freedom for his own people. But until I see demonstrable change, there will be no improvement in relations with Cuba,” Bush declared to warm applause. “It simply cannot be.”

The United States severed relations with Cuba in 1961. The two nations are represented in each other’s capital by interest sections rather than full-fledged embassies.

Bush embarked on a three-week Maine vacation today by taking a roundabout route from Washington to boost Ros-Lehtinen’s bid to succeed the late Democratic Rep. Claude Pepper in a House district that includes many Cuban-Americans and other Latinos.

The Cuban-born candidate’s campaign manager is Bush’s son, Jeb.

The Florida race is one of several House special elections this year in which the Democrats and Republicans are sparring heatedly. Republicans hope to improve their standing of 175 members to 255 for the Democrats, with five vacancies.

The most recent vacancies were created by the deaths of Texas Democrat Mickey Leland and Mississippi Republican Larkin Smith. They died in separate plane crashes.

Bush’s trip to Miami came amid a bitter debate over Justice Department efforts to deport an anti-Castro Cuban militant, Dr. Orlando Bosch. The Justice Department says secret U.S. intelligence information implicates Bosch in bombings and assassination attempts during Castro’s 30-year rule of Cuba.

Bosch’s supporters, including Ros-Lehtinen, view him as a hero in the battle against Castro. Ros-Lehtinen said she planned to ask Bush to overrule the deportation order, and Sen. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) has requested a meeting with Bush on the matter.

White House press secretary Marlin Fitzwater said, however, that the President could not address the case. “It’s a matter before the legal system, and we can’t comment on it,” he said.