Cubans should decide their form of government: Bush

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) – President George W. Bush said
on Monday he did not know the condition of Cuba’s ailing leader
Fidel Castro and that it was up to Cubans on the
communist-ruled island to decide their form of government.

“The only thing I know is what is speculated and that is
that on the one hand he’s very ill, on the other hand he’s
coming out of the hospital. I don’t know. I really don’t know,”
Bush told reporters.

Castro is believed to be recovering from stomach surgery,
but his location and exact condition remain a mystery almost a
week after his unprecedented handover of power.

Bush said the United States wanted the Cuban people to be
able to choose their own form of government.

“And we will make this very clear, as Cuba has the
possibility of transforming itself from a tyrannical situation
to a different type of society, the Cuban people ought to
decide,” he said.