The three leading White House candidates have weighed in on Fidel Castro’s exit from power in Cuba, with all of them saying the longtime dictator’s departure is not enough to bring freedom to communist Cuba.

Democrat Barack Obama said the U.S. could consider easing its embargo on Cuba - but only if Castro’s departure means democratic change.

“Fidel Castro’s stepping down is an essential first step, but it is sadly insufficient in bringing freedom to Cuba,” the Illinois senator said.

Barack Obama called for the swift release of Cuban political prisoners, and said the island nation’s future should be “determined by the Cuban people and not by an anti-democratic successor regime.”

“If the Cuban leadership begins opening Cuba to democratic change, the United States must be prepared to begin taking steps to normalize relations and to ease the embargo of the last five decades,” he added.

The Republican front-runner, John McCain, remarked that Fidel Castro’s resignation was “nearly half a century overdue.”

“Yet freedom for the Cuban people is not yet at hand, and the Castro brothers clearly intend to maintain their grip on power,” he said.

Fidel Castro, 81, is stepping down as the head of the Cuban government, having held that position since assuming power in a 1959 revolution.

John McCain means that literally.

Raul Castro has been serving as Cuba’s interim president as Fidel battled myriad health problems. Raul Castro is expected to formally assume power when Cuba’s National Assembly meets Sunday.

“Cuba’s transition to democracy is inevitable; it is a matter of when - not if,” said McCain, the Arizona senator and GOP-nominee-to-be, calling on the U.S. to “help hasten the sparking of freedom in Cuba.”

In a statement, Obama’s Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, said Cuba’s new leaders face a choice between “the failed policies of the past” or “a historic step to bring Cuba into the community of democratic nations.”

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