U.S., Cuba Exchange Signs of
Reconciliation
ALBA Summit Vetos Declaration of
Summit of Americas
"New," "change"
Buzzwords As Americas
Summit Opens
UN Joins Venezuela
Refugee Plan
U.S., Cuba Exchange
Signs of
Reconciliation
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago - U.S. President Barack Obama said
Friday he was willing to open talks with
Cuba in an effort to end the long-standing
hostility between the nations.
"The United States seeks a new beginning
with Cuba. I know there is a longer journey
that must be traveled in overcoming decades
of mistrust, but there are critical steps we
can take toward a new day," Obama said
during opening ceremonies of the Summit of
the Americas.
He said the White House was prepared to
engage Cuba on a wide range of issues,
including human rights, democratic reforms
and economics, in a bid to move U.S.-Cuban
relations in a new direction.
Obama apparently was responding to an
"overture" from Cuban President Raul Castro,
who said Thursday that despite being under a
47-year-long U.S. embargo, Cuba was open for
talks on any topic.
Castro said Cuba has sent word to Washington
privately and in public that it is willing
to discuss any issue, including freedom of
the press and political prisoners.
"We're willing to sit down to talk as it
should be done, whenever," the Cuban leader
said.
Castro's words also prompted a positive
response from U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton.
U.S. President Barack Obama addresses the
opening ceremony of the Fifth Summit of
Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and
Tobago, April 17, 2009.(Xinhua/David de la
Paz)
During a visit to the Dominican Republic on
Friday before leaving for the summit,
Clinton said current policy toward Cuba has
failed and the U.S. welcomes Cuba's
overture.
The Cuba issue was not officially on the
summit agenda but it appeared to have become
the dominant topic at the meeting, where
hemispheric leaders came to discuss such
issues as the economic crisis and the
environment.
Leaders who spoke at the opening ceremony,
including Argentine President Cristina
Fernandez de Kirchner and Patrick Manning,
the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago,
urged the U.S. to lift its embargo against
Cuba.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Thursday
expressed disappointment that Cuba was
excluded from the summit. Chavez spoke while
he presided at a meeting of the Bolivarian
Alternative for the Americas that Castro
attended.
Meanwhile, Jose Miguel Insulza, the head of
the Organization of American States, said
Friday he will push for the readmission of
Cuba to the OAS when its members meet in
May.
Cuba was excluded from the OAS in 1962 and
has been absent from the Summit of the
Americas since its first meeting in 1994.
The U.S. is one of the few members that
reject its return to the OAS.
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