Miguel Angel Morales, owner of La Moneda Cubana restaurant, said putting up the poster was a big step in a country where the United States has been always been the enemy and where political imagery is tightly controlled. “The Cuban leadership may believe their repressive system can survive, but I don’t think future generations will put up with it”.
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Obama’s White House has struggled to overcome the legacy of George W. Bush, who through the Iraq War and harsh rhetoric had rekindled anti-US sentiment borne of past coups, death squads and heavy handed intervention. “This is the right policy”. All of the representatives confirmed their participation, except for Heller, whose office declined requests for comment.
The spokesman avoided giving any details about the dissidents who will take part in the meeting with Obama.
It observed that for Cuba to fully normalise relations with the USA, a range of conditions must be met and all aspects of the embargo lifted.
While the Republican leadership that controls Congress is opposed to lifting the trade embargo, they should be willing to see more American books enter the communist-ruled country.
“The joint regional mission confirmed my intuition that now is the time to solidify relationships with partners in Cuba”, said Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Maurice Jones.
“We didn’t see anything”, said one man.
They have continued to engage in negotiations over a full normalization and have yet to address several major hurdles, including the US embargo, the status of the USA naval facility at Guantanamo Bay and Cuba’s human rights record.
It was among the first batch of letters to reach Cuba from the USA in 50 years. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, Americans traveled to Cuba in droves seeking a “foreignness” measured less in the Spanish language and more in what the island could offer those seeking “pleasures” restricted in the United States: alcohol during Prohibition, drugs, gambling and prostitution. He’s holding out for a lifting of the embargo, and who can blame him?
So far, the US overtures have prompted only a limited response from the Cuban government, both economically and politically. A young generation of Cuban-Americans has warmed to Obama’s engagement policy, with many excited about the chance to open businesses in their homeland.
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Amid mild temperatures and sunny skies, Obama left the White House in the mid-afternoon to play at Andrews Air Force Base in the nearby state of Maryland.
