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In Cuba, Obama calls for burying ‘last remnant’ of Cold War In Cuba, Obama calls for burying ‘last remnant’ of Cold War
(about 1 hour later)
HAVANA — President Barack Obama urged Cubans on Tuesday to look toward a hopeful future with the United States, casting his historic visit to the communist nation as a moment to “bury the last remnant of the Cold War in the Americas.” HAVANA — Capping his remarkable visit to Cuba, President Barack Obama on Tuesday declared an end to the “last remnant of the Cold War in the Americas” and openly urged the Cuban people to pursue a more democratic future for this longtime communist U.S. neighbor.
In a speech peppered with Spanish at the Grand Theater of Havana, Obama said he wanted Cubans to see possibilities to move past any “blind optimism” that the country’s problems will disappear and instead plant roots for a future they shape for themselves. Reflecting on a half-century of U.S. efforts to isolate Cuba, Obama said he was pursuing a new approach because “what the United States was doing was not working.” With Cuban President Raul Castro watching from a balcony, Obama said the government should not fear citizens who speak freely and vote for their own leaders. And with Cubans watching on tightly controlled state television, Obama said they would be the ones to determine their country’s future, not the United States.
“Many suggested that I come here and ask the people of Cuba to tear something down,” Obama said. “But I’m appealing to the young people of Cuba who will lift something up — build something new.” “Many suggested that I come here and ask the people of Cuba to tear something down,” Obama said. “But I’m appealing to the young people of Cuba who will lift something up, build something new.”
To Cuban President Raul Castro, watching from a balcony, he added, “I believe my visit here demonstrates you do not need to fear a threat from the United States.” On the streets of Havana, the president’s address sparked extraordinarily rare public discussions about democracy, and some anger with Cuba’s leaders. Cubans are used to complaining bitterly about economic matters but rarely speak publicly about any desire for political change, particularly in conversations with foreign journalists.
Obama’s address was carried live on Cuba’s tightly controlled state television, offering him a rare, unfettered opportunity to speak directly to the country’s citizens about his vision. On the streets of Havana many Cubans who caught the president’s speech were jubilant. Juan Francisco Ugarte, Oliva, a 71-year-old retired refrigeration technician, said the American president “dared to say in the presence of the leaders, of Raul Castro, that (Cubans) had the right to protest peacefully without being beaten or arrested.”
“We agree with everything he said in the speech,” said Barbara Ugarte, 45, who owns a gift shop. Omardy Isaac, a 43-year-old who works in the same shop, added that “Cubans need all of their rights and I am in favor of democracy.” Omardy Isaac, a 43-year-old who works in a gift shop, said that “Cubans need all of their rights and I am in favor of democracy.”
Obama’s address opened a whirlwind final day on the island that included a meeting with Cuban dissidents and a baseball game featuring the country’s beloved national team — events made possible by the normalization of U.S. and Cuban relations 15 months ago. It had been nearly 90 years since a sitting U.S. president visited the island. How quickly political change comes to Cuba, if at all, is uncertain. But the response from at least some Cubans was certain to be seen by Obama as validation of his belief that restoring ties and facilitating more interactions between Cuba and the United States is more likely than continued estrangement to spur democracy.
It was a remarkable sight for Cubans to see the American and Cuban presidents sitting side by side at a baseball game. The crowd reacted with thunderous applause and chants of “Raul” as the leaders arrived to settle into their seats in the VIP section behind home plate. “What the United States was doing was not working,” Obama said. He reiterated his call for the U.S. Congress to lift the economic embargo on Cuba, calling it an “outdated burden on the Cuban people” — a condemnation that was enthusiastically cheered by the crowd at Havana’s Grand Theater.
Despite the enthusiasm in both the U.S. and Cuba about a new relationship between former foes, Obama acknowledged deep differences persist, including on human rights and democracy. With prominent members of Cuban society looking on, he called for citizens to be able to “speak their minds without fear” and pick their leaders in free and fair elections. The president’s visit was a crowning moment in his and Castro’s bold bid to restore ties after a half-century diplomatic freeze. While deep differences persist, officials from both countries are in regular contact, major U.S. companies are lining up to invest in Cuba, and travel restrictions that largely blocked Americans from visiting have been loosened.
The president was cheered when he reiterated his call for the U.S. Congress to lift the economic embargo on Cuba, calling it an “outdated burden on the Cuban people.” After arriving Sunday, Obama plunged into a whirlwind schedule that blended official talks with Castro and opportunities to soak in Cuba’s culture. He toured historic sites in Old Havana in a rainstorm, ate at one of the city’s most popular privately owned restaurants and joined baseball-crazed Cubans Tuesday for a game between the cherished national team and the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball.
The embargo is loathed on the island. During a joint appearance with Obama on Monday, Castro called it “the most important obstacle” to Cuba’s economic growth.” The crowd roared as Obama and his family entered the stadium, which underwent an extensive upgrade for the game. Castro joined the Obama family at the game and sat alongside the president behind home plate — one of several moments from the U.S. president’s trip that would have been barely imaginable just months ago.
The president also met Tuesday with about a dozen dissidents, praising them for showing “extraordinary courage.” The group included journalist Miriam Celaya, attorney Laritza Diversent and activists Manuel Cuesta and Jose Daniel Ferrer.
The White House said the meeting was a prerequisite for Obama in coming to Cuba. Yet the gathering did little to appease those who say he hasn’t gotten enough human rights concessions from the Castro government to justify the American economic investment expected to pour into the island.
Cubans have been riveted by 15 months of changes in their country’s relationship with the United States. But they’ve learned of it almost entirely through state-run media who have focused on two primary themes — the embargo’s continued responsibility for Cuban economic problems and the importance of Cuba changing at its own pace, not one imposed by Washington.
Obama’s speech was the first opportunity for Cubans to hear his vision of warming U.S.-Cuban relations as closely linked to Cuba’s internal evolution. It’s a vision of free speech, free assembly and the ability to earn a living without relying on a centrally controlled economy.
The president appeared to deliberately use neutral terms to describe the Cuban state: “a one-party system” and “a socialist economic model” that “has emphasized the role and rights of the state.”
Obama’s last day in Cuba was shadowed by the horrific attacks in Brussels, where scores of people were killed in explosions at the airport and a metro station. The president opened his remarks by vowing to do “whatever is necessary” to support Belgium.Obama’s last day in Cuba was shadowed by the horrific attacks in Brussels, where scores of people were killed in explosions at the airport and a metro station. The president opened his remarks by vowing to do “whatever is necessary” to support Belgium.
Throughout his presidency, Obama has sought to refocus U.S. foreign policy on areas like Latin America that have received less attention than the turmoil in the Middle East and the terrorism emanating from the region. The White House hopes that restoring ties with Cuba will benefit U.S. relations with other countries in Latin America, which have long bristled at Washington’s freeze with Havana. __
Critics of Obama’s policy say he’s given up too much with too little in return from Cuba, particularly on human rights. White House officials pointed to the president’s meeting with about a dozen dissidents Tuesday as a sign of his focus on Cuban repression, saying that allowing the gathering was a prerequisite for his entire visit. Associated Press writers Josh Lederman, Andrea Rodriguez and Peter Orsi contributed to this report.
In brief comments ahead of the private meeting, Obama said his purpose was to ensure that the voices and concerns of the Cuban people can help “shape U.S. policy” toward the island.
“There are people here who have been detained — some in the past, some very recently,” Obama said. “It requires oftentimes great courage to be active in civic life here in Cuba.”
Among the dissidents meeting with Obama were activists, an attorney, a journalist and Berta Soler of the Ladies in White, a group that organizes weekly demonstrations that regularly lead to short detentions. Though Cuba has been criticized for that practice, the long prison sentences handed down in the past have diminished dramatically in recent years.
The issue of political prisoners is hugely important to Cuban-Americans and to the international community. Yet most people on the island are more concerned about the shortage of goods and their own struggles with local bureaucracy.
As Obama pushed for democracy, he pointed to America’s own turbulent history. He held up the current presidential election as an example of how change can come.
“You have two Cuban-Americans in the Republican Party running against the legacy of a black man who is president while arguing that they’re the best person to beat the Democratic nominee, who will either be a woman or a democratic socialist,” Obama said.
Republicans Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, both of Cuban descent, have sought the GOP nomination, though Rubio recently ended his campaign. The Democratic contest is between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist.
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AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace in Havana and AP writers Kathleen Hennessey, Darlene Superville and Kevin Freking in Washington contributed to this report. Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC and Michael Weissenstein at http://twitter.com/mweissenstein
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Follow Josh Lederman at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP and Michael Weissenstein at http://twitter.com/mweissenstein
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.