- Havana 03/22/2016 by Linda Perry (WBAI News)

On his last day in Havana, President Barack Obama delivered a speech about reconciliation to the Cuban people. He said, “I’ve come to bury the last remnant of the Cold War in the Americas.” Obama said Havana is only 90 miles from Florida, but to get here we had to travel barriers of pain and separation.

Obama said he is calling on Congress to lift the embargo, which he said is an outdated burden on the Cuban people and on Americans in the U.S. who want to work or invest in Cuba. He listed political differences between the two nations but contrasted the differences with similarities he drew between the Cuban and American people.  

The President spoke of the importance of the an open internet across the island for the exchange of ideas and information and about the generational changes he sees taking place in Cuba.  Barack Obama ended his speech by saying it’s time to leave the past behind and look to the future. “Si se puede!”

The President opened his speech on his last day in Cuba by vowing to support Brussels, where a terror attack killed people at the Brussels airport and subway system. He said, "We stand in solidarity with them in condemning these outrageous attacks against innocent people," and will do "whatever is necessary in bringing justice to whoever is responsible."