President Bush addressed this afternoon at the State Department a gathering of family members of Cuban political prisoners. Not surprisingly, he vowed to keep the Cuban embargo in place:

As long as the regime maintains its monopoly over the political and economic life of the Cuban people, the United States will keep the embargo in place. (Applause.)

After saying that, however, Bush did hint at two ways that the embargo might be loosened slightly:

The United States government is prepared to license non-governmental organizations and faith-based groups to provide computers and Internet access to Cuban people — if Cuba’s rulers will end their restrictions on Internet access for all the people.

Or the United States is prepared to invite Cuban young people whose families suffer oppression into the Partnership for Latin American Youth scholarship programs, to help them have equal access to greater educational opportunities — if the Cuban rulers will allow them to freely participate.

Of course, I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for these proposals to go into effect if I were you.

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