Castro's retirement could open democratic change: EU

Fidel Castro poses in this photo taken by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during their meeting in Havana January 15, 2008.

LONDON (Reuters) - Fidel Castro's retirement could open the door to democracy in Cuba, European governments said on Tuesday, and the European Union raised the prospect of a thaw in ties with the communist state.

"Fidel Castro's resignation is the end of an era that started with freedom and ended with oppression," Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said.

Castro said he was retiring as head of state 49 years after he seized power in an armed revolution. The ailing 81-year-old said he would not seek a new term as president or commander-in-chief when the National Assembly meets on Sunday.

The European Union said it was ready to seek ways to relaunch diplomatic contacts with Cuba that were frozen after Havana arrested 75 dissidents in 2003.

"We reiterate our willingness to engage with Cuba in a constructive dialogue," a spokesman for EU Aid Commissioner Louis Michel said. Michel plans to visit the island on March 6-7.

The EU's objectives are to encourage peaceful transition to a pluralist democracy, respect for human rights and improvement in the living standards of Cubans, spokesman John Clancy said.

France's European Affairs Minister, Jean-Pierre Jouyet, said "Castro-ism was a symbol of totalitarianism".

"One can only hope that when he retires a new path will open and there will be more democracy in this country, that it takes a path that other countries have taken," he told Europe 1 radio.

Spain's ambassador to Cuba, Carlos Alonso Zaldivar, said Cuba was bound to evolve and change now that Castro handed over to his brother, Raul, who has been running the country for nearly 19 months.

"What we would like to see would be for that change to bring better living standards for Cuban society and better meet the aspirations of Cuban people," Zaldivar told Spanish radio.

LONG-TERM EMBARGO

Washington has maintained a long-term embargo against Cuba in an attempt to isolate Castro and its reaction to Castro's retirement could be critical.

Gennady Zyuganov, the leader of Russia's Communist Party, said the United States could take advantage of Tuesday's transfer of power to squeeze Cuba harder.

"I will not be surprised if the United States, at this moment, will increase its pressure on Cuba but I'm sure it will not bring any results," Zyuganov said in a statement.

"The generation of fighters brought up by Fidel Castro, will not for the first time, rebuff attacks of imperialism."

Amnesty International said it hoped Castro's retirement would lead to human rights improvements.

"Reform in Cuba must start with the unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience, the judicial review of all sentences passed after unfair trials, the abolition of the death penalty and the introduction of measures to ensure respect of fundamental freedoms and the independence of the judiciary," said Javier Zuniga, special adviser at Amnesty International.

The rights body also urged the international community to abolish policies and practices that impinged on the human rights of Cubans, such as the U.S. embargo.

Expelled Cuban dissidents said in Madrid that Castro's formal resignation changed little but could bring a transition to multi-party democracy nearer.

"We can't be sure, but maybe he (Raul) will open up the political system a little to different movements, to different parties," said Omar Pernet, jailed in a 2003 political crackdown and freed at the weekend after a deal with Spain.

"Even though Raul is in charge, he (Fidel) will keep sticking his oar in."

(Reporting by Mark John in Brussels, Conor Sweeney in Moscow, Anthony Boadle in Havana, Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm, Crispian Balmer in Paris, and Emma Pinedo and Martin Roberts in Madrid; writing by Robert Woodward; Editing by Ibon Villelabeitia)