Obama urges U.S. businessmen to exert pressure for lifting Cuba embargo
Source: EFE
Obama urges U.S. businessmen to exert pressure for lifting Cuba embargo
Published September 16, 2015/
EFE
U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday urged businessmen to pressure Congress to lift the Cuban embargo, emphasizing the "significant economic opportunities" created by the process of normalizing bilateral relations.
After delivering a speech at the Business Roundtable Headquarters in Washington at which he responded to several questions from the audience, Obama also said that the imminent visit of Pope Francis to Cuba will be "an opportunity" to broaden the "conversations" that are already occurring on the communist island.
The president reiterated that Cuba will not undergo an "overnight transformation" as a result of the normalization process, but he added that over time the rapprochement inevitably "creates space for personal freedom and, I think, a long-term political transition." "It doesn't make sense for us to keep sticking to the old ways of doing business," the president said, referring to the embargo.
Since the announcement last December of the process of normalizing relations with Cuba, Obama has come out publicly in favor of lifting the embargo imposed on the island for more than half a century, something that only the U.S. Congress - which currently has a Republican majority - can do.
Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2015/09/16/obama-urges-us-businessmen-to-exert-pressure-for-lifting-cuba-embargo/
(This story originated with Spain's E.F.E. and was reprinted by Fox "News."
