Obama ‘always’ ready to change Cuba policy

US: US President Barack Obama said Wednesday that he would always be ready to change tough policy towards Cuba, but needed evidence from the communist state it was ready to reform.

Obama, in an Internet roundtable with questions posed by Hispanic journalists, said his gradual easing of some US restrictions on Cuba had been intended to hint at steps that could follow if Havana stepped away from a “Cold War” mentality. “Throughout Latin America, democracies have emerged from previously authoritarian regimes. The time has come for the same thing to happen in Cuba,” Obama said, in an event simultaneously translated into Spanish.

“As long as I’m president, I will always be prepared to change our Cuba policy if and when we start seeing a serious intention on the part of the Cuban government to provide liberty for its people,” Obama said.

“Hopefully, over the next five years, we will see Cuba looking around the world and saying, we need to catch up with history.”

Obama said that before he would act, he wanted to see action from Cuba on releasing political prisoners and on providing people with basic human rights.

“So far, at least, what we haven’t seen is the kind of genuine spirit of transformation inside of Cuba that would justify us eliminating the embargo,” he said.

Washington, Thursday, AFP