– Differences remain –
“The dialogue signals the end of the last Cold War battles in this hemisphere,” said Geoff Thale, Cuba expert at the Washington Office on Latin America policy forum. “But I don’t think that they will become best of friends overnight.”
During their private talks, Obama and Castro discussed the embassy negotiations and instructed their teams to swiftly resolve lingering issues, a senior US official said.
Castro mentioned his desire to see the end of the US embargo, which forbids most trade and American tourism to the island. Obama has urged the US Congress to end it.
Addressing a key Cuban demand, Obama told Castro that he would decide whether to recommend removing Cuba from a US list of state sponsors of terrorism in the “coming days,” the official said.
While Obama pointed to polls showing most Cubans and Americans back the diplomatic thaw, some in Congress and on the 2016 presidential campaign trail oppose it.
“This president has shown he is willing to do what nine previous presidents of both parties would not: cave to a communist dictator in our own hemisphere,” fumed US Senator Ted Cruz, a Cuban-American Republican candidate.
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