With the withdrawal of Fidel Castro from the political scene, Cuba has an opportunity to move towards democracy, Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said on Wednesday.
Speaking on a morning radio talk show, D'Alema recalled how Italy ''has for some time been exerting pressure (on Cuba) to achieve an immediate and concrete result: the release of all people who are in prison for political reasons or opinions''.
''It is my hope that the Cuban regime will now take this step because it would send a very positive message, in response to which the United State could lift its embargo,'' D'Alema added.
According to the foreign minister, the embargo imposed after the Communist takeover of the island ''did not work in favor of the development of democracy there but only reinforced the regime, by fueling a nationalistic myth of a clash between David and Goliath''.
Castro's decision on Tuesday to relinquish all powers marked ''an end to an era... a transition which we hope will be painless,'' D'Alema said after the announcement.
D'Alema first visited Cuba as young man when he was head of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) youth league.
