President Obama Meets with President Castro in Panama last year.
For the first time in 88 years, a sitting U.S. President has visited Cuba. President Barack Obama began his three-day visit to the island Sunday amid protests from the Ladies in White. The group, which includes the wives of former political prisoners, was protesting the island’s history of communism.
“Change is gonna happen here,” Obama said to ABC News’ David Muir. “And I think that [Cuban President] Raúl Castro understands that.”
One change that many Americans are backing is the 54-year embargo against Cuba. Obama has asked for the embargo to be rescinded, but it was shut down by Republicans, according to Reuters.
After so many years with a sour relationship between the two nations because of opposition to Fidel Castro’s regime, the president’s actions during his visit seemed to tip the scales toward new beginnings. He visited a privately owned restaurant called a “paladar,” an establishment that has only recently been permissible in the country, and new investments have been made by American firms, according to CNN. This could be the push that gets the Republican Congress to see that that removing the embargo would benefit the country.
Other progress has been made. Restrictions in commerce and trade to Cuba have been loosened in the past 15 months, and Obama’s visit is set to cement a good relationship between the two countries, NPR said. The President’s statement that “change will happen” could be a reality. Cubans and Americans are eager for limits on interactions to be removed.
