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The President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, ended on Tuesday his official visit to Cuba, where he was bid farewell by Army General Raul Castro, President of the councils of State and Ministers.
The two heads of state held their last meeting at the capital’s Jose Marti International Airport and bade each other goodbye at the foot of the stairs of the aircraft that would take Obama to Argentina.
For three days, the occupant of the White House appreciated Cuban reality, and among strengths he found were «the talent» and «hard work of the people,» as he expressed on Tuesday in his speech at Havana’s Alicia Alonso Grand Theater.
At that emblematic facility, Obama addressed representatives of the island’s civil society and in the presence of Raul Castro he said that discrepancies between the two governments are real; however, he ratified his willingness to look into the future «with hope and respecting differences.»
It is time to lift the «embargo,» he underlined while referring to the unfair economic, commercial and financial blockade the United States still maintains against the island and that dates back to over 50 years.
On Monday, Obama and Raul held official talks, during which they spoke about the state of relations, progress made since their reestablishment was agreed on December 17, 2014, and the next steps to be taken to improve bilateral ties.
Before this meeting, the U.S. head of state placed a wreath by the monument erected to Cuban National Hero Jose Marti, at the memorial named after him at Havana’s Revolution Square.
Obama also attended a bi-national business forum convened by the Cuban Chamber of Commerce, in which he spoke with representatives of the state and cooperative sectors and of self-employed workers.
Upon his arrival in Cuba on Sunday, March 20, Obama toured along with his family and members of his delegation the historic area of Havana, declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site in 1982.
Guided by Havana City Historian Eusebio Leal, the President visited the Arms Square and the Cathedral of the Virgin Mary of Immaculate Conception, where he was received by Cardinal Jaime Ortega, Archbishop of Havana.
Before his departure on Tuesday, the U.S. head of state attended, along with Raul Castro, the first two innings of the baseball game between the island’s team and the Tampa Bay Rays of the MLB, at the capital’s Latin American Stadium.
Within the context of Obama’s visit, agricultural authorities of the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding to boost cooperation in trade, productivity, food security, sustainable management of natural resources and protection against the introduction and spreading of pests, diseases in plants, animals and the environment. (Taken from Cuban News Agency)
