[JURIST] US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez [official profile] said in a speech [text] Friday that Cuba [JURIST news archive] should hold a referendum on democracy as a countervailing force to the ongoing dictatorship of Cuban President Fidel Castro [BBC profile]. Gutierrez, a Cuban-American, suggested that the Organization of American States [official website] could sponsor the referendum in a manner recalling its successful campaign to remove former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet [JURIST news archive; BBC profile].

Gutierrez went on to denounce interim Cuban President Raul Castro [Wikipedia profile], who has been filling in for his brother during illness, and said the US will not do business with him. Reuters has more.