Obama, Castro meet in New York for talks on deepening ties

When it comes to lifting the trade embargo, U.S. President Barack Obama sides with Castro and said he is confident the U.S. Congress will lift what he calls “an embargo that should not be in place anymore”.

OBAMA: For 50 years, the United States pursued a Cuba policy that failed to improve the lives of the Cuban people.

This summer, both countries opened embassies in Havana and Washington, a highly symbolic step, but also one that will assist as the two nations attempt to establish greater trade ties, and as Cuba seeks to acquire investment.

Aides joining Obama included Secretary of State John Kerry, National Security Adviser Susan Rice and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power.

Obama and Castro first spoke in December after the secret process to restore diplomatic relations was revealed.

The Tuesday meeting took place on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations.

Only Congress can remove the embargo, and many Republican lawmakers, as well as a few Democrats, say they’re not ready to do so until Cuba makes significant political changes.

“The president, as he always does, sort of reaffirmed our commitment to seeing the Cuban government do a better job of not just respecting, but actually proactively protecting the basic human rights of the Cuban people”, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters. And the last Cuban president to do so was not Fidel Castro.

In particular, he alleges the United States owes Cuba compensation for the damage that sanctions did to the island economy, running into “many millions of dollars”.

“We feel very proud about Cuba’s performance in the area of human rights”, said the minister. “Cuban authorities are using any cowardly excuse to silence Danilo and send a message to others that any criticism of the government and its officials will not be tolerated”, Carolina Jimenez, Americas Deputy Director for Research at Amnesty worldwide, said in the statement.

He said it was also necessary for the U.S. to return the military base at Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay and end anti-communist broadcasts to the island.

Castro, uproariously praised prior and then afterward his discourse, likewise voiced solidarity for creating nations in Latin America and Africa, including Puerto Rico, which he said ought to be allowed autonomy from the United States “after over a century of provincial mastery.”

The meeting began in a friendly manner, with the leaders shaking hands and the diminutive Castro laughingly commenting on the US president’s height.

The assembly has voted each year since 1982 to approve a resolution calling on the United States to lift the embargo.