U.S. President Barack Obama said
on Tuesday that he had come to Cuba to "bury the last traces of
the Cold War" in a speech in Havana's Grand Theater where he was
received with a standing ovation.
Tuesday is the last day of Obama's historic three-day visit
to the nation that hasn't seen an American president on its soil
since Calvin Coolidge in 1928.
He said it was time the U.S. commercial embargo against
Cuba ended, though he did not give a precise idea of when that
might happen.
"What we have done in the past 50 years has not served
neither our interests nor the interests of the Cuban people," he
said.
The embargo represents an "obstacle" to development in Cuba
and a new route would open up for the country only after it is
lifted, he said. He added that there was increasing interest in
the U.S. Congress for the embargo to go but it was linked to
issues including human rights and implementation of agreements
signed.
He also thanked Pope Francis and Cuban Cardinal Jaime
Ortega for their "patient mediation work" which he said had
contributed decisively to the reconciliation between the two
countries.
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