CUBAN President Raul Castro welcomed his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama to the Palace of the Revolution in Havana yesterday in the first USA state visit for 90 years.
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President Barack Obama joined Cuba’s ruler Raul Castro in Havana entering this final chapter of the Cold War.
Just as President Obama was flying from Washington to Havana on Sunday afternoon, Cuban authorities arrested more than 50 dissidents who were marching to demand improved human rights.
The U.S. technology giant has built a studio equipped with dozens of laptops, cellphones and virtual-reality goggles at the complex run by Alexis Leiva Machado, a sculptor known as Kcho. That revolution is reviled by critics of the Castro government.
Obama opened his first full day in Cuba by adjusting a wreath at the memorial to Jose Marti, where a 59-foot statue pays tribute to the Cuban independence hero and writer.
At Monday’s news conference, which followed talks between the two leaders, Castro responded sharply to the pressure over his record on rights, saying the US stance reflected a double standard as a country that also violated human rights.
Obama was greeted by top Cuban officials – but not President Raul Castro.
84-year-old Castro often appeared confused by the questions and process of the press conference, freely conceding that “there are profound differences between our countries that will not go away”, calling the eventually lifting of the embargo “positive, but insufficient”.
“This is pure history and I never thought I’d see something like this”, said Marlene Pino, a 47-year-old engineer. Since succeeding his brother Fidel in 2008, Castro has orchestrated economic and social reforms with broad-based impact, though to many Cubans and foreigners they appear slow to materialize.
“It is crucial that all Americans have convenient access to Cuba, including the thousands of companies, businesses, and educational institutions that are clamoring for scheduled air service to Cuba”, Feinstein and Boxer wrote in a March 18 letter.
The Cuban government and the Communist Party control almost all media in Cuba, including TV and radio channels and print newspapers. But Obama says he believes the two governments are capable of having a “constructive dialogue”.
No one said the road to normal relations between the United States and Cuba would be smooth and fast, not after a half-century of mutual enmity and distrust. Jubilant crowds surged toward his heavily fortified motorcade, reminders of the Cuban people’s deep affection for Americans despite decades of enmity between their governments. To that end, Obama came to Havana hoping his visit would spur Castro to offer gestures of good faith and meaningful change, which would undermine critics who accuse Obama of kowtowing to an authoritarian government.
The Obama administration has already eased travel restrictions by allowing individuals to travel to Cuba for “people-to-people educational” purposes. He will attend a ballgame Tuesday between the Tampa Bay Rays and Cuba’s national team.
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It was the leaders’ first meeting since Obama arrived in Cuba on Sunday and a milestone in the new era of closer relations between the two countries.
