SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Cuban President Raul Castro and U.S. President Barack Obama shake hands for the second time at the Summit of the Americas, marking the start of historic talks between the two countries on April 11, 2015. (Photo: AP)
'Our Governments Will Continue to Have Differences': Historic US-Cuba Talks Start
Presidents Barack Obama and Raúl Castro outline different priorities in first face-to-face meeting of U.S. and Cuban leaders in 50 years
Apr 12, 2015
U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro began talks in Panama on Saturday in the first face-to-face meeting between leaders of the two nations in 50 years.
The historic event at the seventh Summit of the Americas, which Cuba was attending for the first time, was another step toward easing tensions between the U.S. and Cuba after a thawing of relations was announced last December.
Both leaders acknowledged that progress had been made during Saturday's meeting, but outlined different priorities.
"Our governments will continue to have differences," Obama said after the meeting. He added that some of the immediate goals were to open embassies in Havana and Washington, D.C., but stopped short of confirming whether he would remove Cuba from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terror.
However, during a speech earlier in the day, Castro made clear that Cuba's main concern was in the U.S. lifting the embargo against the country and returning Guantanamo Bay, which he said was illegally occupied by the U.S. military.
The Guardian reports:
The meeting between the two men followed an often heated plenary session in which Obama tried to focus attention on the possibilities of closer regional ties, while leftwing leaders lined up to remind the US of its past aggression and interference in the hemisphere.
Still, Castro said during his speech that Obama was not responsible for the misdeeds of previous presidents and expressed his respect for the U.S. leader. "In my opinion, Obama is an honest man," he said. "I admire him."
He added that he wanted a new beginning with the U.S. despite a "long and complicated history" between the two countries, and said "we are willing to discuss everything, but we need to be patient--very patient."
Obama echoed that he looked forward to a "new chapter" with Cuba, adding that he was "not interested in having battles that started before I was born."
But current tensions with other countries in the region were another matter. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called on Obama to lift an executive order declaring the country a threat to U.S. national security and imposing sanctions on seven officials in Caracas who were accused of human rights abuses. Maduro called the sanctions "threatening" and "dangerous."
"I respect Obama, but I do not trust him," Maduro said on Saturday. "We've never been against the U.S. We're anti-imperialist."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro began talks in Panama on Saturday in the first face-to-face meeting between leaders of the two nations in 50 years.
The historic event at the seventh Summit of the Americas, which Cuba was attending for the first time, was another step toward easing tensions between the U.S. and Cuba after a thawing of relations was announced last December.
Both leaders acknowledged that progress had been made during Saturday's meeting, but outlined different priorities.
"Our governments will continue to have differences," Obama said after the meeting. He added that some of the immediate goals were to open embassies in Havana and Washington, D.C., but stopped short of confirming whether he would remove Cuba from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terror.
However, during a speech earlier in the day, Castro made clear that Cuba's main concern was in the U.S. lifting the embargo against the country and returning Guantanamo Bay, which he said was illegally occupied by the U.S. military.
The Guardian reports:
The meeting between the two men followed an often heated plenary session in which Obama tried to focus attention on the possibilities of closer regional ties, while leftwing leaders lined up to remind the US of its past aggression and interference in the hemisphere.
Still, Castro said during his speech that Obama was not responsible for the misdeeds of previous presidents and expressed his respect for the U.S. leader. "In my opinion, Obama is an honest man," he said. "I admire him."
He added that he wanted a new beginning with the U.S. despite a "long and complicated history" between the two countries, and said "we are willing to discuss everything, but we need to be patient--very patient."
Obama echoed that he looked forward to a "new chapter" with Cuba, adding that he was "not interested in having battles that started before I was born."
But current tensions with other countries in the region were another matter. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called on Obama to lift an executive order declaring the country a threat to U.S. national security and imposing sanctions on seven officials in Caracas who were accused of human rights abuses. Maduro called the sanctions "threatening" and "dangerous."
"I respect Obama, but I do not trust him," Maduro said on Saturday. "We've never been against the U.S. We're anti-imperialist."
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro began talks in Panama on Saturday in the first face-to-face meeting between leaders of the two nations in 50 years.
The historic event at the seventh Summit of the Americas, which Cuba was attending for the first time, was another step toward easing tensions between the U.S. and Cuba after a thawing of relations was announced last December.
Both leaders acknowledged that progress had been made during Saturday's meeting, but outlined different priorities.
"Our governments will continue to have differences," Obama said after the meeting. He added that some of the immediate goals were to open embassies in Havana and Washington, D.C., but stopped short of confirming whether he would remove Cuba from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terror.
However, during a speech earlier in the day, Castro made clear that Cuba's main concern was in the U.S. lifting the embargo against the country and returning Guantanamo Bay, which he said was illegally occupied by the U.S. military.
The Guardian reports:
The meeting between the two men followed an often heated plenary session in which Obama tried to focus attention on the possibilities of closer regional ties, while leftwing leaders lined up to remind the US of its past aggression and interference in the hemisphere.
Still, Castro said during his speech that Obama was not responsible for the misdeeds of previous presidents and expressed his respect for the U.S. leader. "In my opinion, Obama is an honest man," he said. "I admire him."
He added that he wanted a new beginning with the U.S. despite a "long and complicated history" between the two countries, and said "we are willing to discuss everything, but we need to be patient--very patient."
Obama echoed that he looked forward to a "new chapter" with Cuba, adding that he was "not interested in having battles that started before I was born."
But current tensions with other countries in the region were another matter. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called on Obama to lift an executive order declaring the country a threat to U.S. national security and imposing sanctions on seven officials in Caracas who were accused of human rights abuses. Maduro called the sanctions "threatening" and "dangerous."
"I respect Obama, but I do not trust him," Maduro said on Saturday. "We've never been against the U.S. We're anti-imperialist."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.