Obama’s Hopes Focused On Meeting “With Cuban Civil Society”

Obama's Hopes Focused On Meeting "With Cuban Civil Society" / 14ymedio
Posted on March 15, 2016

14ymedio, Havana, 13 March 2016 — The Ladies in White Movement has made
public this Sunday the letter sent to them by Barack Obama through his
advisor Ben Rhodes, during a meeting with representatives from civil
society and the exile that took place on Friday in Miami. In the letter,
the president emphasized that "the United States will always stand for
human rights," and said that he is looking forward to his meeting "with
civil society" during his stay in Cuba.

The president thanked the Human Rights organization for "taking the
time" to write. In a previous letter, signed by the movement's leader
Berta Soler, the women expressed their concern for "38 consecutive
Sundays" on which they have been "repressed by the Department of State
Security," at the end of their peregrinations along 5th Avenue in Havana.

Obama said his administration takes "seriously the concerns you have
raised about human rights in Cuba" and said he plans "to raise these
issues directly with President Castro."

"After 50 years of trying an isolation approach that simply did not
work, I believe we can do more to support the Cuban people," the
president reiterated. The United States believes that "no one, in Cuba
or anywhere else, should face harassment, arrests, or physical assault
simply because they are exercising the universal right to have their
voices heard."

The US President also said that the Ladies in White "are an inspiration
to human rights movements around the world."

This Saturday, Soler told that press that she was concerned "because
President Obama said he would only come to Cuba if he saw progress on
human rights, something that has not happened." The activist also wished
the president to meet with opponents to learn about the repression
firsthand.

The president's visit has deepened the differences among the internal
Cuban dissidence, divided between those activists seeking to leverage
the new context with the United States to promote changes, and others
who see any dialogue with the Cuban government as a way of giving
legitimacy to the regime.

Source: Obama's Hopes Focused On Meeting "With Cuban Civil Society" /
14ymedio | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/obamas-hopes-focused-on-meeting-with-cuban-civil-society-14ymedio/