As officials in Washington took in the news Tuesday that Castro had relinquished power temporarily due to surgery to stem intestinal bleeding, some began to examine how the US-Cuba relationship would need to be reshaped in a post-Fidel world.

Some said the current anti-Castro laws leave Washington ill-prepared to be a relevant player if the communist leader, nearly 80, leaves the stage after 47 years in power.

"Whether Castro is sick or dead or just testing the reaction in Cuba, the United States is in no position to help," said Republican Representative Jeff Flake, a longtime critic of the current administration's Cuba policy.

"We are more distant now than we ever have been from the Cubans, who could pursue the kind of change that we would like to see," Flake said.

US law states that Washington can provide support only to a transition government which does not include Fidel Castro or his brother Raul, Cuba's defense chief, who has provisionally taken power. Any support also must meet conditions including holding free elections and releasing political prisoners.

While there is a large and vocal contingent in Congress which supports these and other restrictions, there is also growing support for liberalizing ties as the best way to support democracy.

"There is a widespread misconception that, as soon as Castro is gone, the US will be able to aid and assist a transition," Flake said.

"But with Castro's brother in place and several unreasonable conditions in US law to be met, the US will be on the sidelines while the rest of the democratic world engages in reform efforts."

Supporters of reform say one law that will need almost immediate revision in Castro's wake is the US policy of granting immediate asylum to Cubans who reach American shores -- a law which has encouraged many Cubans to risk crossing the shark-infested waters of the Florida Straits in rickety boats and rafts.

The United States sends home Cubans picked up at sea, but continues to grant asylum to any Cuban who touches US soil, the so-called "wet foot/dry foot" policy.

Yet another is the Treasury Department-administered trade embargo which prohibits the import of Cuban goods and enforces a ban preventing US tourists from traveling to Cuba.

"The best thing we can do right now, regardless of Castro's condition, is to let Americans travel to Cuba and begin laying the ground work for a positive transition," Flake said Tuesday.

Much of US policy toward Havana is governed by the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, which allows revocation or denial of US visas to foreign executives doing business in Cuba.

In January 2002, President George W. Bush affirmed the continued enforcement of travel restrictions while calling for increased outreach to the Cuban people.

Five months later, Bush announced his Initiative for a New Cuba, easing restrictions on humanitarian assistance by legitimate US religious and non-governmental groups but keeping other sanctions in place.

And just a few weeks ago, the Bush administration released a 95-page report issued by an advisory panel on US Cuba policy, which urged a tightening of the embargo on Cuba and the establishment of a fund to bankroll Castro opponents.