News / Foreign Policy

Obama hopes to visit Cuba before he leaves White House

Monday, 14 December 2015 8:43 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 14 December 2015 9:42 PM ]

US President Barack Obama shakes hands with Cuban President Raúl Castro during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York on September 29, 2015. (AFP)

US President Barack Obama says he hopes to visit Havana before the end of his term following a historic deal to end decades of cold war hostility against Cuba.

In an interview released on Monday, Obama said he would "very much" like to visit the country in 2016 but only if the conditions are “right.”

On the anniversary of an announcement on normalization of bilateral ties, the US president cited “liberty and freedom and possibilities of ordinary Cubans” as required for a visit.

“I am very much interested in going to Cuba, but I think the conditions have to be right,” Obama told Yahoo! News. “And what I’ve said to the Cuban government is: ‘If, in fact, I with confidence can say that we’re seeing some progress in the liberty and freedom and possibilities of ordinary Cubans, I’d love to use a visit as a way of highlighting that progress.’

“If we’re going backwards, then there’s not much reason for me to be there. I’m not interested in just validating the status quo. But the good news is there’s overwhelming support for normalization among the Cuban people and there’s overwhelming support for normalization among the American people, and so my hope is that some time next year we look at the conditions there and say: ‘You know what, now would be a good time to shine a light on progress that’s been made but also to nudge the Cuban government in the right direction.’”

He also referred to his meetings with his Cuban counterpart, Raúl Castro, saying, he would like to “talk to everybody” if he visits the country.

“If I go on a visit, then part of the deal is that I get to talk to everybody. I’ve made very clear in my conversations directly with President Castro that we would continue to reach out to those who want to broaden the scope for, you know, free expression inside of Cuba.”

Obama has so far failed in the fight with Republicans to close the infamous Guantanamo Bay prison, languishing on the Cuban soil, and end an embargo still in place against the country.

Cuba has repeatedly called for the immediate lifting of the embargo, describing it as the main obstacle to the country’s economic development.

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