George H.W. Bush: “April 18, 1992 I am strongly committed to actions that will bring rapid, peaceful, democratic change to Cuba. My…”

“April 18, 1992 I am strongly committed to actions that will bring rapid, peaceful, democratic change to Cuba. My administration has pursued an effective policy of economic and political isolation of the Castro regime. We urge all democratic governments to join us. No nation should help bankroll this dictatorship. Aid to the Castro regime will prolong Castro's hold on Cuba and prolong the misery and suffering of the Cuban people. Today we are closer than ever to our goal of returning freedom to Cuba. The Russian Government has announced that economic relations with Cuba will be on a hard currency basis. Also, Russia is withdrawing the former Soviet brigade and announced that as of January 1, 1992, it was ending all subsidies to Cuba. Castro is on his own. Cuba has lost a source of economic and military aid that has totaled as much as $5 billion annually in some years. Cuban trade with the new Independent States amounts to a mere fraction of its trade with the former Soviet Union. For the first time, the Russian Republic voted with countries from Latin America, Africa, and Asia to condemn Cuba's human rights abuses at the United Nations Human Rights Commission meeting in Geneva. Our Latin American allies rejected Cuban requests to purchase oil at less than fair market prices and have called for a democratic opening in Cuba. My administration will support free trade arrangements that benefit our sister democracies but will not accept loopholes that aid the Castro regime.…”