WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush will urge Cubans on Wednesday to "shape their destiny" by pushing for peaceful democratic change, in his latest effort to boost pressure on ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

Bush, in a speech on Cuba at the State Department, will describe the communist-run Cuban government as a dying regime and suggest conditions on the island are ripe for democratic change, according to a U.S. official who previewed Bush's remarks on Tuesday night.

The official added Bush was not calling for armed rebellion but for a transition he likened to the fall of communism in Eastern Europe.

In recent remarks, Bush has suggested he thinks Castro's demise is near, telling an audience earlier this month in Miami that "the long rule of a cruel dictator is nearing an end."

The Bush administration official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said, "There's a restive element to the Cuban people."