( dpa ) - Retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro continues to quietly wield power, and Washington will not alter its tough policies on the communist island until democratic reforms are introduced, President George W Bush said Friday.
"So far, all Cuba has done is replace one dictator with another, Bush said. "And its former ruler is still influencing events from behind the scenes."
Castro formally stepped down last month after 49 years in power, handing the reins to his brother Raul, who had been running the country since his older brother suffered a health crisis in 2006.
Meeting at the White House with a group of Cuban dissidents, Bush said that US sanctions imposed in the 1960s will remain in place, while Washington will continue reaching out to the Cuban people.
"This is the same system, the same faces and the same policies that led Cuba to its miseries in the first place," Bush said. "The United States is isolating the Cuban regime, and we're reaching out to the Cuban people."