Bam, Castro look forward on Cuba
PRESIDENT OBAMA and Cuban president Raul Castro are ready to forget the past and forge ahead with restored relations between the U.S. and Cuba after a “historic meeting” Saturday.
Obama told the crowd at the Summit of the Americas that the cold war was over and he’s not interested in battles that started before he was born.
“The United States will not be imprisoned by the past,” Obama said at the international conference in Panama City, one day after he and Castro shook hands before a group of assembled foreign dignitaries, a wildly symbolic gesture meant to emphasize the pair’s historic partnership. “We’re not caught up in ideology.”
The President spoke to assembled leaders at the summit ahead of the highly anticipated meeting. Castro said he is willing to “discuss everything.”
Obama, speaking to reporters later, acknowledged that he and Castro have major differences.
“We have very different views of how society should be organized and I was very direct with him that we are not going to stop talking about issues like democracy and human rights and freedom of assembly and freedom of the press,” he said.
It was the first time any Cuban representative has attended the meetings.
Obama told the leaders, many from Latin American nations, that the U.S restoring normal diplomatic relations with the communist island’s government will help all countries in the region. “I firmly believe that if we can continue to move forward and seize this momentum in pursuit of our mutual interests, then better relations between the United States and Cuba will create new opportunity for cooperation across our region,” Obama said.
Castro, who replaced his ailing brother Fidel Castro as president in 2006, made light of his nation’s long absence at the gathering of Western Hemisphere officials.
Noting that speeches were only meant to last eight minutes, Castro asked to be compensated.
“Since you owe me six summits when you excluded me, six times eight is 48,” he joked.
Castro then listed more than a century of grievances against the U.S. in an hour-long speech.
The 83-year-old praised Obama’s decision to restore ties with the island nation.
“In my opinion, President Obama is an honest man,” Castro said.