PANAMA CITY, April 11 (Reuters)—U.S. President Barack Obama met Cuban President Raul Castro on Saturday in the highest-level talks between the two countries in nearly 60 years, and the two men agreed to push ahead on improving relations after decades of hostility.
Describing their private meeting as “historic”, Obama said the two countries can now end the opposition of the Cold War era, although he said he would continue to pressure the communist-led country on democracy and human rights. “Obviously there are still going to be deep and significant differences between our two governments,” Obama told Castro as they met in Panama, where they both attended a summit of leaders from across America.
The meeting followed a landmark agreement in December, when Obama and Castro announced they would move to normalize relations, including seeking to recover diplomatic ties that were broken off by Washington in 1961. Obama said he decided to overturn longstanding U.S. policy on Cuba because the old approach of open hostility and economic sanctions had failed to force through major changes on the Caribbean island and it was time to try something new.
At their 80-minute meeting on Saturday, almost unimaginable until recently, Obama and Castro sat side by side in polished, wooden chairs in a small conference room. The mood was described by Obama aides as amiable but businesslike.
Castro said he would continue to take steps toward normalizing relations, and was open to discussing human rights and other issues. “So we are willing to discuss everything, but we need to be patient, very patient. Some things we will agree on; others we will disagree,” said the 83-year-old leader, who took over as president of Cuba in 2008 when Fidel Castro stepped aside because of ill health.
Despite criticism from opponents, Obama wants to make changes to Cuba policy. He said at the summit earlier on Saturday, “The Cold War has been over for a long time. I’m not interested in having battles that frankly started before I was born,” Obama said. “What I am interested in is solving problems and working with you.”
本时文内容由奇速英语国际教育研究院原创编写，禁止复制和任何商业用途，版权所有，侵权必究！
13980503458
13980503458
admin@qisuen.cn
