Clearly frustrated, he denied there were any. According to CNN, even though both leaders did not agree on several grounds, they found common ground on the topic of the economic embargo on Cuba, which both want lifted and Obama declared that “the embargo’s going to end”, though he couldn’t say when. But just yesterday, the regime arrested more than two dozen protestors.
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Obama then appeared to lean in to pat Castro on the back.
Barack Obama stands in front of a monument depicting Cuba’s revolution hero Ernesto “Che” Guevara and listens to the US national anthem during a ceremony at the José Marti Monument in Havana. He thinks it was disrespectful that Castro did not welcome the president when he landed in Cuba.
“They know that it’s the biggest economy in the world and has a lot of impact, so they feel they always have to have their guard up or the US will take over”, Bradwil said. The second – that helping Cuba’s economy to grow will lead to public demands for greater freedoms – has repeatedly been borne out by what’s happened in other communist nations (China) and dictatorships-turned-democracies (South Korea) after the emergence of sizable middle classes. Margaret Brennan is in Havana. The palace was built after the 1959 revolution that turned Cuba into a communist state.
OBAMA: This is a new day.
“Although we still have significant differences around human rights and individual liberties inside of Cuba, we felt that coming now would maximize our ability to prompt more change”. Many protesters saying Obama went despite a lack of efforts for reform by the Cuban government.
“In the absence of that, I think it will continue to be a very powerful irritant”, Obama said in a joint news conference with Castro that began with jokes but was tense at times.
The U.S. president is under pressure from critics at home to push Castro’s government to allow dissent from political opponents and further open its Soviet-style command economy. Activist Antonio Rodiles was among them.
“He sees it in limited terms for the moment – tourism revenue and remittances plus the changes to the sanctions”, Hare added.
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The leaders of the United States. and Cuba politely squared off over human rights and hypocrisy Monday after a historic meeting more than 50 years in the making. Only about 5 percent of the entire population is able to online in any capacity, and up until this year, Internet connection was only available for professional government officials who have been cleared to have access, and the access they do get is censored.
