“But I’m appealing to the young people of Cuba who will lift something up, build something new”. “During a joint appearance with Obama on Monday, Castro called it “the most important obstacle” to Cuba’s economic growth”.
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Free speech In a call for free speech, the president said that the financial and trade reforms and the new travel routes between the United States and Cuba require “the free and open exchange of ideas”. He pointedly refused to acknowledge that Cuba holds political prisoners.
“If a sitting US president goes and does not make human rights a focal point, it could serve the unintended effect of pushing the pro-democracy movement into the shadows”, Marion Smith, the executive director of the Victims of Communism Memorial Fund said.
Though Cuban officials warned Obama firmly against trying to bypass the government and lobby Cubans directly, his speech was expected to be carried live on TV, offering Obama an unfettered chance to lay out his vision for Cuba’s future.
Rhodes said the US regularly raises cases of specific political prisoners, and that numerous cases have been resolved.
“Just mention a list”. “There are still enormous problems in our society”. “We stand in solidarity with them in condemning these outrageous attacks”. “It isn’t always pretty, [but] it’s the process of democracy”.
As much as the president’s speech on Tuesday is a speech to the Cuban people, it’s also a speech to the Cuban people in America.
It was a remarkable sight for Cubans to see the presidents of the United States and Cuba seated side by side. “In the absence of that, I think it will continue to be a very powerful irritant”.
The ambitious effort by Obama and Castro to normalize relations between the two countries could include the possibility of US teams legally hiring Cuban players. “What changes come will depend upon the Cuban people”.
Mr. Obama told Michel that the USA will offer any assistance necessary to investigate the attacks. The next move is up to President Raul Castro and his Government. He toured historic sites in Old Havana in a rainstorm and ate at one of the city’s most popular privately owned restaurants.
For the first time in 17 years, an Major League Baseball team is in Cuba to play an exhibition game, with the Tampa Bay Rays in Havana to battle the Cuban National Team at Estadio Latinoamericano on Tuesday afternoon. The family dined in a local restaurant, toured the old town, and on Tuesday afternoon will attend a baseball game.
Obama noted his lifetime has spanned the time of isolation of between the two countries and the decades of constant confrontation.
“It is not as if the human rights situation was benefiting from the previous policy of closing Cuba off and having the embargo”.
The White House said the meeting was a prerequisite for Obama in coming to Cuba. Cuza, who retired from the military and now works as a maintenance worker at a school, said he gets even less – about $10 a month.
President Barack Obama, right, and first lady Michelle arrive for a state dinner with Cuba’s President Raul Castro, left, at the Palace of the Revolution in Havana, March 21, 2016. He will be welcomed this morning by President Mauricio Macri at Casa Rosada, the historic, pink presidential offices.
In a rare event, Castro agreed to take questions from journalists after the two leaders’ remarks.
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Obama is meeting with a group of about a dozen activists at the U.S. Embassy in Havana.
