The United States government will remove Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, which could pave the way for further strengthening diplomatic relations.
Last week, US President Barack Obama met with Cuban President Raul Castro during a summit in Panama. It marked the first time in 60 years that leaders of the two countries have met. According to the Reuters news service, Mr. Obama called the meeting “historic.”
“We are now in a position to move on a path toward the future,” Mr. Obama told Mr. Castro, according to the news service.
After an 80-minute meeting, both presidents met with reporters.
“So we are willing to discuss everything, but we need to be patient, very patient,” Mr. Castro said. “Some things we will agree on; others we will disagree.”
Mr. Obama made similar points in discussions with reporters.
“We have very different views of how society should be organised, and I was very direct with him that we are not going to stop talking about issues like democracy and human rights and freedom of assembly and freedom of the press,” he said.
Last year, Mr. Obama led a dramatic shift in US policy toward the island, where Mr. Castro’s brother Fidel installed a communist government in 1959.
A decades-old economic embargo initiated by the US is still in place, preventing the two countries from trading with each other. It can only be lifted with approval from the US Congress.
However, Mr. Obama has granted US residents expanded permission to visit Cuba for a wider range of purposes, though tourism is not yet permitted.
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