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Obama in Cuba: presidents attend baseball game during historic visit – live
Obama in Cuba: presidents attend baseball game during historic visit – live
(35 minutes later)
7.29pm GMT
19:29
Back to the game, for the moment – the Rays have just scored a home run, knocking two men around the bases for scores.
It’s 3-0, top of the fourth, with two outs.
The game. #MLBinCuba pic.twitter.com/650wdkzuPW
7.24pm GMT
19:24
The ESPN commentators revert back to baseball. They tease Obama about struggling to do the first pitch of a baseball game – a presidential tradition that has proven harrowing for several presidents.
“I’ve talked to President Bush about this,” Obama says, observing that a president by definition has to be able to cope with extraordinary stress. “Nothing is more stressful than throwing out a first pitch, because they just hand you the ball.”
He quickly adds “I have not grounded” the ball – he means he has managed to get the ball the 60ft from the pitcher’s mound to the catcher at home plate. He does qualify the point of pride, though: “the first time I did not ground it was because [catcher Albert] Pujols saved me.”
He waxes a little philosophical. “Ultimately what this game is about is good will, and the recognition that people are people. but we can’t forget that there are some larger stakes involved in this.”
The president again recalls his meeting with Cuban dissidents: “a couple of them had been imprisoned just yesterday, one of them still had cuts as a consequence of handcuffs that had been placed on him.”
It’s important, he says, to “appreciate the ability for us to meet and talk and dialogue, but we can’t forget the fact that families have experienced pain. And our values are ones that are contrary to some of the values here.”
“There’s a lot of stuff wrong in the world,” he says, before pointing to his daughters nearby to illustrate that the world changes, too. “You can see,” he says, “my daughters were talking to President Castro’s grandchildren.”
“You hope the next generation doesn’t carry over some of the scars, some of the legacies of the past.”
7.16pm GMT
19:16
Obama: terrorists cannot defeat America or disrupt our lives
One of the ESPN commentators asks Obama about the terror attacks in Belgium earlier on Tuesday
“It’s always a challenge when you have a terrorist attack anywhere in the world,” Obama says. “You want to be respectful and understand the gravity.”
He explains why it was important to him to attend the baseball game as planned despite the tragedy in Europe. “The whole premise of terrorism is to try to disrupt people’s ordinary lives.”
He says that “one of my most powerful memories” of his presidency was “watching Boston respond after the marathon [bombing]. And when [Boston Red Sox player David] Ortiz went out, and said – probably the only time America didn’t have a problem with some person on live TV – was when he talked about Boston, how strong it is.”
“That is the kind of resilience and the kind of strength that we have to continually show in the face of these terrorists.”
“They cannot defeat America. They don’t produce anything, they don’t have a message that appeals” to Muslims or non-Muslims, he continues.
“What they can do is scare us, and make people afraid and disrupt our daily lives, and as long as we don’t allow that to happen, we’re going to be OK.”
7.08pm GMT
19:08
Bottom of the second inning, Cuban’s up to bat. The Cubans have a man on first base, but he’s caught off it by the pitcher. One out.
The second batter walks to first, and the third hits a high ball and is caught out.
Barack Obama is being interviewed meanwhile by ESPN, who’ve asked him about his meeting with Cuban dissidents earlier today. “What I said to them is we will continue to speak out loudly about things we care about, and that is not going to change,” Obama says.
“They were in a position to blame all the problems they have here on the United States,” he goes on, arguing that the change in policy increases US leverage to encourage change in Cuba.
Another ESPN commentator asks him about “that’s the power of baseball, it can change attitudes sometimes in was that politicians can never change, that a speech can’t change.
“All those kids who grew up watching the Brooklyn Dodgers, and all of a sudden they’r rooting for a black man [to succeed] on the field.” He says “that’s a legacy” he wants to continue.
“What it did was it taught America that it’s the skills, its’s the talent, it’s the character, and not the color that matters.”
He says “we still have a long way to go and that’s true in every day life and in the sport,” and he alludes to the small number of African American and Latino managers. He says this ties in with his message to the Cuban people, that it’s “not that we’re perfect but that we have the capacity to change”. He says Jackie Robinson exemplified that.
6.48pm GMT
6.48pm GMT
18:48
18:48
And the Rays score! A ground hit into right field sends the man on second base racing all the way round to home. The ump rules it safe and the American team strikes first against the Cubans.
And the Rays score! A ground hit into right field sends the man on second base racing all the way round to home. The ump rules it safe and the American team strikes first against the Cubans.
Obama shakes hands with Castro, and both men are all smiles in the stands.
Obama shakes hands with Castro, and both men are all smiles in the stands.
The next batter is caught out, ending the half of the inning.
The next batter is caught out, ending the half of the inning.
6.45pm GMT
6.45pm GMT
18:45
18:45
The Rays get a man on second base after a batter hits a double into center field – but the Cubans got two preceding batters out.
The Rays get a man on second base after a batter hits a double into center field – but the Cubans got two preceding batters out.
Obama’s glad to see something go the American team’s way, but he’s struggling to get his wife into it. He gives her a couple playful shakes on the arm to try to get her excited about the hit.
Obama’s glad to see something go the American team’s way, but he’s struggling to get his wife into it. He gives her a couple playful shakes on the arm to try to get her excited about the hit.
6.36pm GMT
6.36pm GMT
18:36
18:36
The first inning: the Cubans knock the Rays’ batters out 1-2-3, and then get two men on bases in the second half of the inning.
The first inning: the Cubans knock the Rays’ batters out 1-2-3, and then get two men on bases in the second half of the inning.
But the Rays manage to escape the inning scoreless, thanks to a double play to take the runners out.
But the Rays manage to escape the inning scoreless, thanks to a double play to take the runners out.
6.30pm GMT
6.30pm GMT
18:30
18:30
The first pitch of the game – Cuba to the Ray’s batter, who’s eventually out.
The first pitch of the game – Cuba to the Ray’s batter, who’s eventually out.
First pitch. Baseball diplomacy in Havana. pic.twitter.com/cuJx44GEmb
First pitch. Baseball diplomacy in Havana. pic.twitter.com/cuJx44GEmb
Updated
Updated
at 6.32pm GMT
at 6.32pm GMT
6.29pm GMT
6.29pm GMT
18:29
18:29
and here it is: Obama doing the wave pic.twitter.com/1erVpjEVYN
and here it is: Obama doing the wave pic.twitter.com/1erVpjEVYN
6.08pm GMT
6.08pm GMT
18:08
18:08
And now they are releasing doves! They've certainly left the best till last on this trip. pic.twitter.com/rixcbJo96O
And now they are releasing doves! They've certainly left the best till last on this trip. pic.twitter.com/rixcbJo96O
Updated
Updated
at 6.09pm GMT
at 6.09pm GMT
6.07pm GMT
6.07pm GMT
18:07
18:07
A chorus sings La Bayamesa, and then the Star Spangled Banner. The Obamas are singing. When it ends the crowd roars again, and a flock of doves comes hurtling out of the stands and around the stadium. It’s time for some baseball.
A chorus sings La Bayamesa, and then the Star Spangled Banner. The Obamas are singing. When it ends the crowd roars again, and a flock of doves comes hurtling out of the stands and around the stadium. It’s time for some baseball.
Updated
Updated
at 6.08pm GMT
at 6.08pm GMT
6.04pm GMT
6.04pm GMT
18:04
18:04
The Rays and the Cuban national team are being announced player by player. The crowd is decidedly more excited about the home team, who get played onto the field by mambo.
The Rays and the Cuban national team are being announced player by player. The crowd is decidedly more excited about the home team, who get played onto the field by mambo.
Every player from both teams comes out with a little kid at their side.
Every player from both teams comes out with a little kid at their side.
5.55pm GMT
5.55pm GMT
17:55
17:55
Baseball diplomacy: Barack Obama, Raúl Castro and Michelle Obama.
Baseball diplomacy: Barack Obama, Raúl Castro and Michelle Obama.
5.53pm GMT
17:53
Wearing sunglasses and chewing gum, Barack Obama arrives in the stadium, with daughters and wife right behind him.
Not far behind the first family is Raúl Castro, and the presidents’ seats turn out to be right next to each other near one of the dugouts. Secretary of state John Kerry shakes Castro’s hand, and the crowd has gone wild at the sight of the presidents together.
Huge cheers from the Cuban crowd here as the Obama family take to their seats below us pic.twitter.com/M8ObqAsjIb
5.44pm GMT
17:44
Still waiting for the national anthems – but John Kerry has arrived and the crowd’s doing the wave.
The wave is universal: at Estadio Latino Americano ahead of Rays-Cuba game pic.twitter.com/lN8U7qmnzF
5.32pm GMT
17:32
Getting in the mood at the stadium – the crowd’s loudly chanting “Cuba”.
Cuban state TV has also got the game, and is airing it online here.
5.23pm GMT
17:23
Dan Roberts
The Guardian’s DC bureau chief Dan Roberts is in the stands of the Estadio Latino Americano, where the baseball game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban national team is about to begin.
They have been playing baseball in Cuba since 1864, but there can have been few more eagerly anticipated games than that between the Cuban national team and a representative of Major League Baseball, the Rays.
Clashes between the American and Cuban sides are rare, but a chance to best a Florida team in front of Barack Obama during the first trip by a US president since 1926 provides extra excitement that has given this stadium a deafening buzz.
Certainly the long lines and chaotic crush to enter the ground suggests that this is the hottest ticket in town.
Cuba’s president Raul Castro is also expected to attend, making this – not the spats over economic and political reform – the real test of competing systems.
Major League Baseball has been lobbying hard for a relaxation of labour laws so it can hire some of Cuba’s top talent to play in the US.
We are advised to expect a very different style of play today today: fast-paced and frantic, without television advertising to worry about.
With Cuban jazz echoing around the Estadio Latino Americano and not a billboard or television screen in sight, it feels in fact like we’ve stepped back in time to the 1950s.
The crush getting into the big baseball game between the Cuban national side and MLB's Tampa Bay Rays was insane. pic.twitter.com/M7MmdbDPHR
Updated
at 5.28pm GMT
4.59pm GMT
16:59
Lisa O'Carroll
Back out on the streets of Havana, my colleague Lisa O’Carroll has met a state employee who minces no words about how hard life in Havana can be, and the turn toward tourism as the island cracks open its doors to the world.
“Isabella” is a state employee in the picturesque Cuban town of Cienfuegos, famed for its French-inspired classical architecture.
Isabella is sick of her government job. She earns about $20 a month and dreams of opening a bed and breakfast.
To Cubans, opening your home to tourists, is like awarding yourself the lottery. Isabella says she used to be “a Fidelista” until a few years ago.
“I turned 42 and I thought, ‘42 years on this earth and for what?’ Nothing. I earn 20 pesos a month working for the government. It’s nothing. I’m tired of working for nothing. People are hungry here. I need money for food for clothes for shoes.”
If she could open a bed and breakfast, known as “casa particulare” she feels she would be minted, able to reel in at least $20 a night per bedroom.
A mother of a 15-year old boy, she is better off than most but had to emigrate first. She lived with her parents and wanted a place of her own, but it was impossible on her salary. “I worked for two years in Italy like a slave, cleaning rooms and subjected to racism.
“I worked every hour to save 6,000 pesos to buy a house. She wants to open a casa particulare, or bed and breakfast but can’t because her home is an hour from the tourist centre of the town. She Looked at a five bedroom colonial house on the waterfront but it would cost $90,000.
“If you have 90k you are a criminal, nobody has that kind of money,” she says
Tourism has a bright future in Cuba, with up to 80 direct daily flights from the US predicted in the coming year. But in cities like Havana and picture postcard towns like Trinidad, a world heritage site already full to bursting, the country is straining to cope with unprecedented demand.
Once a rare sight, tourists from the US, Germany, France, the UK and Canada in particular are descending in droves and turning places like Trinidad into something like a human zoo. Cuba received a record 3.42 million tourists last year up 17% on 2014, and it is difficult to see how its crumbling hotels and unprepared residents can absorb any more.
State owned hotels in the capital range from the famous National hotel and elegant colonial gems such as Hotel Seville, a setting in Graham Green’s Our Man in Havana are out of reach for the majority at between $200 and $600 a night.
On the other end of the spectrum are decrepit options such as Hotel Lincoln, where I stayed last night, at $49 a night.
In between are the casa pariculares. such as the elegant colonial house Hostal Balcones, typically cost $25 to $59 a night but there are still not enough to cope with the numbers.
Despite some scamming taxi drivers, Cuba is notably a safe place to walk around at any time of day without watching your wallet. People are exceptionally friendly, and often invite you into their home – one local invited me into her home yesterday to watch Obama.
4.50pm GMT
16:50
T minus 40 minutes to baseball.
Serious crowd crush to get into stadium but Tampa Bay Rays vs Cuban national team already has the look of epic game. pic.twitter.com/YC50MZ1KbO
4.29pm GMT
16:29
Lisa O'Carroll
David Wright, an American living in Cuba, confirmed that the Obama visit was off limits for the Cuban public. “I would have loved to see my president,” he said.
David Wright, a rare sight - an American living in Havana. Would hv loved to see Obama at baseball but not allowed. pic.twitter.com/Ua7XuTBDki
“We only heard this morning on the news that he was giving the speech here and we raced to get into town but the whole place was in shut down and we missed it.”
An avid baseball fan, he also tried in vain to get a ticket to the Obama game. “I got up early and went to the embassy every day for two weeks,” he said.
“My wife’s step mother is a Cuban diplomat. We tried to pull every string but for the general public it was impossible. It’s just dignitaries and a handful of invitees.”
So few Cubans allowed see Obama visit. Just hotel staff inside cordon. Such a shame for Cuban people. pic.twitter.com/HTk1XrnFyu
4.14pm GMT
16:14
After his speech, Obama met with dissidents and local leaders at the new US embassy.
He told the White House press corps, Guardian DC bureau chief Dan Roberts among them, that he’d met some of the activists before, in Miami and at the Summit of the Americas in Panama.
Berta Soler, leader of the activist group called Ladies in White, was in the room, as was Elizardo Sanchez, spokesman of Cuban Commission for Human Rights and Reconciliation. According to that group, there were 2.555 detentions for political reasons in Cuba in January and February alone.
Below are the president’s remarks, per the pool report.
“All of the individuals around this table have shown extraordinary courage,” he said. “They have spoken out on behalf of the issues that they care deeply about. Some of them represent specific constituencies inside of Cuba.
“Some of them have broader concerns regarding democracy, the ability to speak freely, worship freely, or assemble or are advocating on behalf of democratic practices here in Cuba.
“There are people here who have been detained. Some in the past, some very recently. And as I have said consistently, part of our policy with respect to engagement with Cuba is not simply me meeting with President Castro or government-to-government relations. 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 US policy.
“I want to thank all of them for being here. It requires oftentimes great courage to be active in civic life here in Cuba.
“This is an area where we continue to have deep differences with the Cuban government. My hope is that by listening and hearing from them that we can continue to refine our policy in such a way that ultimately the Cuban people are able to live freely and prosperously.”
At start of meeting with Cuban dissidents and others, Pres says he wants to hear directly from them. pic.twitter.com/AxK1dNJIKK
Updated
at 4.17pm GMT
3.45pm GMT
15:45
Key points of Obama's speech
A quick summary of Barack Obama’s speech to the Cuban people from Havana. At the moment the president is meeting with activists and local leaders.
Updated
at 4.13pm GMT
3.25pm GMT
15:25
Lisa O'Carroll
But not all Cubans are so critical of Barack Obama’s speech, my colleague Lisa O’Carroll reports from Havana. She watched the speech with staffers at the Parque Central Hotel.
“It was a beautiful speech, he said things I think: we have to forget the past and thing of the future,” said Sahely Monduy, one of the staff at the Parque Central hotel lucky enough to watch live feed of Obama’s speech.
“It will be difficult for Obama when he goes back because he has opponents who want the blockade to stay. But we hope,” she added.
“It’s good for the Cuban people to have a new relationship. It was a great speech,” said her colleague William Guerrero.
The Guardian’s Latin America correspondent, Jon Watts, also met a Cuban who liked the speech.
“Obama said something really special in this speech. He said we are all Americans,” said businesswoman Tania Livia. “In the past US always looked down on us as ‘Latin Americans’. It was a stigma.”
And the AP’s Andrea Rodriguez watched with a Mrs Delsi. “This man is brave,” Delsi said.
Este hombre es valiente, dice sra Delsi mirando discurso de #Obama pic.twitter.com/7RkbyxG3ni
