CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- The Bush administration proposed Friday that Cubans hold a referendum to decide if they want to be ruled by dictators or live in democracy.

Cuban President Fidel Castro has long fiercely resisted any attempts by the U.S. to interfere with his government, and Cuba is highly unlikely to accept the idea, announced in Florida by U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez.

"I would say to the Cuban regime, 'why not ask the people?"' Gutierrez said at The Miami Herald's Americas Conference. "Why would a real leader be so insecure about giving his people a voice?"

Gutierrez suggested the Cuban people work with the Organization of American States and others to organize a referendum.

OAS officials had no immediate comment. Cuba has been excluded from participating in the group since the early 1960s, after Castro took power.

Gutierrez, who was born in Cuba, said a referendum is not a "U.S.-only idea" but one many countries around the world support.

He cited Chile as an example of a country that rejected a military dictatorship and showed "what can happen under freedom and democracy."

"They were asked a simple yes or no to dictatorship, very simple, and the people said 'no,"' Gutierrez said.

John Kavulich, a senior policy adviser for the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, called the idea of a referendum "Disneyesque" and absurd.

"It is not going to happen. The U.S. government must come to terms with the fact that a succession has already taken place in Cuba, and the transition has already begun," Kavulich said at the conference.

Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., issued a statement applauding Gutierrez's suggestion.

"We need to challenge the illegal transfer of power from one dictator to another," said Cuban-born Martinez. "A legitimate referendum under international standards would allow the Cuban people to be heard for the first time in 47 years."

Castro handed over power temporarily on July 31 because of his intestinal surgery. The government has treated the exact illness as a state secret, although Castro has been shown this week in pictures talking to visiting leaders in Cuba for a Nonaligned Summit.