Bush hopes for democratic transition in Cuba

President George W Bush said on Tuesday he hoped for a democratic transition in Cuba, hours after Fidel Castro resigned as president after almost 50 years as leader.

Bush, speaking during a trip to Rwanda, urged the international community to work with the Cuban people to build institutions needed for democracy, and said "the United States will help the people of Cuba realise the blessings of liberty".

"The international community should work with the Cuban people to begin to build institutions that are necessary for democracy," Bush said at a joint news conference with Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Kigali.

"Eventually, this transition ought to lead to free and fair elections - and I mean free, and I mean fair - not these kind of staged elections that the Castro brothers try to foist off as true democracy," Bush said.

Fidel Castro had temporarily ceded his powers to his brother on July 31, 2006, when he announced that he had undergone intestinal surgery.

Bush received the news of Castro's resignation by his national security adviser while travelling in Africa. He was expected to get a fuller briefing on the situation later in the day.

“Relaunch ties with Cuba”

The European Union said on Tuesday it was ready to seek ways to relaunch ties with Cuba that were largely frozen under Fidel Castro, after the 81-year-old revolutionary leader announced his retirement.

"We reiterate our willingness to engage with Cuba in a constructive dialogue," a spokesman for EU Aid Commissioner Louis Michel told a regular news briefing, noting that Michel planned to visit the island on March 6-7.

He said the EU executive took note of Castro's decision not to seek re-election and declined to comment on the decision.

Separately, a spokeswoman for EU President Slovenia said the 27-member bloc remained willing "to sound out possibilities to resume a political dialogue" with Havana.

Relations between the EU and Cuba soured in 2003 when Brussels froze diplomatic contacts after Havana arrested 75 dissidents, many of whom had been invited to national day receptions at European embassies.