Castro called on the U.S.to abandon the military base at Guantanamo Bay, on Cuba’s southwestern tip.
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The three-day trip marks the first time a US president has visited the island nation in 88 years. “And that the rule of law should not include arbitrary detentions of people who exercise those rights”, Obama said.
It’s fairly apparent that President Obama’s historic speech to Cubans yesterday was received positively on the island.
President Barack Obama on Tuesday used Sens.
But he used his own personal story to promote the idea of American values, saying their democratic system made it possible for a man like him – mixed race, from humble origins – to become president of the United States.
“But here’s what the Cuban people need to understand: I welcome this open debate and dialogue”.
Shortly after touching down in Cuba Sunday, President Obama also told ABC News that Google plans to help expand Wi-Fi access in the country.
“After this meeting is over, you can give me a list of political prisoners and if we have those political prisoners, they will all be released before the night ends”, he said, sticking to Havana’s insistence that no one is imprisoned for political reasons – only for crimes.
Peppering his speech with Spanish phrases, Obama pointed out the two countries’ many similarities, starting with their having been “built in part by slaves from Africa” and their many citizens who can trace their ancestry to slaves or slave owners. There are still major roadblocks, due mainly to Cuba’s human rights record.
Obama called for democracy, free expression and a freer economy during his 35-minute speech at the Gran Teatro in Old Havana Tuesday morning.
“When Ortiz went out and said probably the only time that America didn’t have a problem with somebody, a person on live TV, was when he talked about Boston, how strong it was and that it was not going to be intimidated”, Obama said.
Splash News “What he just did was legalizing a regime that has been torturing Cubans”, Maria Conchita Alonso said of President Obama’s Cuba trip. U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, arrive for a State Dinner hosted by Cuban President Raul Castro, left, at the Palace of the Revolution, Monday, March 21, 2016, in Havana, Cuba.
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The United States broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1961 and placed an official embargo against the country in 1962.
