Obama, Castro in historic talks to end long economic standoff
What you need to know:
- Obama, seeing Castro only for the third time in a formal setting, was the first US president in Cuba since 1928.
- Mr Obama will be keen to hear from Castro about economic and political changes that are likely to come from a key Communist Party congress in April.
HAVANA
US President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro met Monday in Havana’s Palace of the Revolution for groundbreaking talks on ending the standoff between the two neighbours.
Obama, seeing Castro only for the third time in a formal setting, was the first US president in Cuba since 1928.
Mr Obama’s visit to Cuba, the first by a US president in 88 years, has raised hopes among battling Cubans that decades of economic and political stasis may be coming to an end.
But the detention of dozens of pro-democracy protestors Sunday and the deployment of a horde of secret police around Old Havana have served as a stark reminder of the regime’s iron grip on power.
On the eve of the Castro-Obama meeting, White House officials were locked in talks with their Cuban counterparts to ensure the two leaders take even a few questions from the press.
Mr Obama’s administration is betting that opening Cuba’s economy will be a bridgehead leading to political change.
But that has left him open to criticism that he has failed to secure immediate democratic change in return for a high profile presidential visit.
Arriving in Havana, Obama admitted change is not going to happen “overnight.” “Change is going to happen here and I think that Raul Castro understands that,” he told ABC.
“Although we still have significant differences around human rights and individual liberties inside of Cuba, we felt that coming now would maximize our ability to prompt more change.”
ENEMY TERRITORY
Mr Obama will be keen to hear from Castro about economic and political changes that are likely to come from a key Communist Party congress in April.
Castro may be interested to hear how Obama’s policy of engagement can weather a turbulent election year and change of administration next January.
The meeting is only the third formal encounter between Obama and the brother of Fidel Castro, who handed over the presidency in 2008.
At stake is the historic shift to end the Cold War conflict, which has seen Washington try to bring Cuba to its knees through an economic embargo, while Havana, a close Soviet ally, became enemy territory.
The trip has been touted mostly for its huge symbolic value, and comes more than a year after Obama and Castro surprised the world in December 2014 by announcing that their countries would begin normalizing relations.
