Obama will be the first sitting president to visit Cuba in almost 90 years.
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With the endorsement yesterday of the Final Accord of the 16th meeting of the Cuba-Venezuela Inter-governmental Commission, as part of the visit of President Nicolas Maduro, the two nations set their route for the development of their links through year 2030. When Panfilo calls the “Casa Blanca” for a weather report on Tuesday – when Obama is slated to take in a baseball game – Obama himself picks up.
Obama, throwing in some Spanish phrases, chats with Pánfilo, telling him, “the Cuban people and the American people are friends”.
In a recent survey by TripAdvisor, 62% of US respondents said they were interested in booking a trip to Cuba, and 25% said they plan to take a trip in the next 12 months.
The Cuban government dismisses many dissidents as “mercenaries” on the payroll of the United States, a notion reinforced by revelations over the years of US financing of anti-government campaigns in Cuba.
Luis Silva plays Panfilo, an elderly character on a wildly popular show that often uses biting humor to comment on social reality and lampoon the failings of Cuba’s government and centrally planned economy.
“If we don’t lift the embargo, we’re going to be sleeping in European hotels and eating Chinese food”, Sen.
Dissidents called for Mr Obama to promote “radical change ” , notably a “stop to repression and use of physical violence against all political and human rights activists ” .
He hopes to speak about trade opportunities for Minnesota agriculture, business, and medical device companies.
“Unless the Castros are compelled to change their dictatorship – the way they govern the island and the way they exploit its people – the answer to this won’t be different than the last 50-some-odd years”, Menendez said. “The Cuban people empowered themselves decades ago”, he told reporters in Havana.
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To that end, Obama will meet with dissidents critical of Castro’s government. Hundreds of thousands now work in the private sector and enjoy relaxed limits on cellphones and Internet.
