Associated Press

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Monday refused to support lifting the Cuban trade embargo unless Fidel Castro releases political prisoners, conducts
independently monitored elections and accepts a list of tough new U.S. conditions for a "new government that is fully democratic."

"Freedom sometimes grows step by step, and we will encourage those steps," the president said, outlining his new U.S. policy on Cuban Independence Day.

Seeking to balance his hard-line policy with a sensitivity to Cuba's grinding poverty, the president outlined administration actions
designed to make life better for the Cuban people. One initiative would resume direct mail service to and from Cuba.

Bush's speech, which aides said has been in the works since January, came a week after former President Carter traveled to Cuba
and urged the people to embrace democracy while calling on the United States to lift the 40-year-old trade embargo.

Carter and other critics argue that the restrictions have failed to end Castro's regime while making life tough on ordinary Cubans. Bush
also has been accused of shaping his policy to win support of Cuban-Americans, a force in Florida politics and thus a key to his
re-election hopes.

Indeed, Bush was traveling to Miami later in the day to address Cuban-Americans eager to hear his
anti-Castro rhetoric.

Speaking in Spanish at times, Bush said Cuba's legacy of freedom "has been insulted by a tyrant
who uses brutal methods to enforce a bankrupt vision. That legacy has been debased by a relic from
another era who has turned a beautiful island into a prison."

If all his conditions are met, Bush will support lifting the congressionally mandated trade ban -- even
if Castro is still in charge -- said two senior White House officials, speaking on condition of
anonymity. But they said Bush does not envision Castro's making the necessary changes, prompting
the new policy designed to foment change from within the country.

"If Mr. Castro refuses our offer he will be protecting his cronies at the expense of his people and eventually, despite all his tools of oppression, Fidel Castro will need
to answer to his people," Bush said.

"Well-intentioned ideas about trade will merely prop up this dictator, enrich his cronies and enhance the totalitarian regime. It will not help the Cuban people," he said.

To win his approval of easing restrictions, Bush said Cuba must:

     Allow opposition parties to speak freely and organize.
     Allow independent trade unions.
     Free all political prisoners.
     Allow human rights organizations to visit Cuba to ensure that the conditions for free elections are being created.
     Allow outside observers to monitor 2003 elections.
     End discriminatory practices against Cuban workers.

"Full normalization of relations with Cuba, diplomatic recognition, open trade and a robust aid program will only be possible when Cuba has a new government that is
fully democratic, when the rule of law is respected and when the human rights of all Cubans are fully protected," Bush said.

"Meaningful reform on Cuba's part will be answered with a meaningful United States response," he said. "The choice rests with Mr. Castro."

He voiced support for a referendum in Cuba asking voters whether they favor civil liberties, including freedom of speech and assembly, and amnesty for political
prisoners.

Pledging to help the Cuban people weather the nation's economic crisis, Bush called for the resumption of mail service and promised assistance to nongovernmental
organizations that aid Cubans. He also pledged to create scholarships in the United States for Cuban students, family members of political prisoners and professionals
trying to build civil institutions in the communist regime.

Money still needs to be found for the scholarship program, White House officials said. They said the initiatives can be carried out without congressional approval

Last week, a 40-member, bipartisan group in Congress announced support for easing the embargo. The private Human Rights Watch called for the same, saying the
embargo "imposes indiscriminate hardship on the Cuban people and impedes democratic change."

Politics loomed large over Bush's events Monday.

Cuban-American voters helped carry him to a narrow victory in Florida, the state that decided the 2000 election, and they favor the kind of hard line he was
espousing. The tough talk also could appeal to the broader Hispanic vote throughout the United States.

Bush's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, faces re-election this year and is depending on Cuban-Americans, who vote heavily Republican.

The president was to headline a fund-raiser Monday evening for the Florida Republican Party, which will use the money to boost Jeb Bush's re-election campaign. It
will be the third fund-raiser for his brother the president has attended this year.