With game and talks, Cuba and MLB have their own rapprochement

“I have come here to bury the last remnant of the Cold War in the Americas”, he said to applause from an audience of over 1,000 people.

“All people must carry the same weight before the Law and citizens must have the right to freedom of expression and to criticize their government and practice their faith in public, besides electing their governments in a public and secret way”, Obama said and admitted the USA embargo on the island was an “obsolete burden for the Cuban people”.

Also in the presence of Raul Castro, Obama shared his vision of the new scenarios that are opened in the relationship of the two nations, whose peoples, he said, have shared values beyond their differences, besides being united by historical and cultural ties.

“Creo en el pueblo cubano“, he said, repeating himself in English: “I believe in the Cuban people”. “I believe they’re the rights of the American people, the Cuban people and people around the world”, Mr Obama said.

After Obama’s address, the first family went to an exhibition baseball game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban national team.

The three-day trip marks the first time a US president has visited the island nation in 88 years. However, the Republican-controlled Congress has blocked Obama’s attempts to lift the longstanding trade embargo on Havana.

Perlmutter also took part in meetings the Obama delegation held with Cuban dissidents, part of efforts, he said, to “hear some voices outside the government”.

The president’s 17-year-old daughter served as her dad’s personal interpreter during a visit with locals on their historic trip to Cuba, according to White House photographer Pete Souza. Obama on Monday paid tribute to Cuban national hero Jose Marti before meeting with Cuban President Raul Castro in Havana.

“I find the imagery of Obama yukking it up with FARC terrorists at a baseball game yesterday when Europe is under siege by terrorists disgusting”, he said. But rather than calling for an end to the oppressive Castro regime, Obama called for Cubans to lift themselves up in spite of their hard political climate.

Not too long from now, the Castros will pass away – and many of their antiquated ways with them. Immediately after the speech, Obama was due to meet at the United States embassy with dissidents who are regularly harassed and sometimes arrested in Cuba.