Obama’s goal for Cuba trip: Become a source of support

[flamingdem]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obamas-goal-for-cuba-trip-become-a-source-of-support/2016/03/16/5aa9877c-ebc5-11e5-a6f3-21ccdbc5f74e_story.html?postshare=1171458249635173&tid=ss_fb-bottom

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** Ohhh, let's hope Obama gets it right. There are so many, many ways to get it wrong

Outlining the trip to reporters, Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, said that the Tuesday morning speech would be “as important as anything else he’s doing” on the island.

Held at the recently renovated Gran Teatro Alicia Alonso in central Havana, it “will address the very complicated history between our two countries . . . [and] make clear what his vision is for the future of relations between the United States and Cuba, and the future that we would wish for the Cuban people.”

While Obama will not shy away from discussing human rights, “the difference here is that in the past, because of certain U.S. policies, the message that was delivered in that regard either overtly or implicitly suggested that the United States was seeking to pursue regime change . . . or the United States thought we could dictate the direction of Cuba,” Rhodes said.

Obama will make clear, he said, “that the United States is not a hostile nation seeking regime change, that in fact we can’t be blamed for challenges in Cuba, and that . . . we are there as a source of support for the Cuban people.”