On Tuesday, Obama said that the approach employed by the United States since the Cold War was no longer working and that “we have to have the courage to acknowledge that truth”.
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US President, Barack Obama, concludes today his visit here with a public speech and his attendance to the baseball match between the Cuban national team and the MLB American League representative, Tampa Bay Rays. “But I’m appealing to the young people of Cuba who will lift something up – build something new”.
Barack Obama was born in 1961, two years after the Cuban Revolution started. “It is an outdated burden on the Cuban people”. Human-rights groups responded by circulating lists of 40 or so on social media. President Castro had earlier denied the existence of political prisoners and when challenged by a reporter demanded a list. of names.
Obama, the first USA president to visit Cuba in 88 years, agreed in 2014 to improve relations with the former Cold War foe but he is under pressure at home to push Castro’s government to allow political dissent and to further open its Soviet-style economy.
“Every person should have the freedom to practice their faith peacefully and publicly”, Mr. Obama said, adding that voters should be free to choose their government in democratic elections.
President Obama “I’ve said consistently, after more than five very hard decades, the relationship between our governments will not be transformed overnight”.
In a sweeping address in front of the Cuban leaders like Raúl Castro, Obama said the fact that Cuban-Americans like Cruz and Rubio could credibly seek the Republican nomination and win primary states showed the progress that democracy has helped achieve in the US.
“Much of this is a matter of us being able to hear directly from the Cuban people and making sure that they have a voice and making sure that their concerns and their ideas are helping to shape USA policy”.
Obama held a bilateral meeting with Cuban President Raul Castro Monday and on Tuesday delivered a speech on democracy and human rights.
Throughout his presidency, Obama has sought to refocus USA foreign policy on regions like Latin America that have received less attention than the turmoil in the Middle East and the terrorism emanating from the region.
“Regarding what I just said, I’d like to recall that Cuba has always said…it is not going to negotiate matters that are inherent to its internal system in exchange for an improvement in or the normalization of relations with the United States”, Vidal said.
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The two leaders have emphasized that while many differences between the US and Cuba remain, their countries will work together on shared interests.
