Obama says he would meet with Cuba's leaders
Barack Obama wants "direct diplomacy" with the Castro government in an effort to bring democracy to Cuba. One critic calls the view "wishful thinking."
MIAMI — Sen. Barack Obama called today for "direct diplomacy, with friend and foe alike," saying he would meet with Cuba's Communist leaders in hopes of advancing democracy on the island.
In a luncheon speech to the most powerful Cuban exile group in the country, the Illinois Democrat vying for his party's presidential nomination also said he would immediately allow unlimited family travel and remittances.
"It's time for more than tough talk that never yields results. It's time for a new strategy. There are no better ambassadors for freedom than Cuban Americans," he said, noting the prospects for influencing Cuba's political course by engagement and example.
The annual Cuban Independence Day banquet of the Cuban American National Foundation cheered Obama's avowed commitment to fostering democracy in Cuba. But the audience showed its wariness of his talk of meeting with Cuban leaders. Mere handfuls applauded that statement from among the crowd of at least 500.
Obama contrasted his plan to break nearly half a century of deadlock in U.S.-Cuba relations with the stated intentions of Republican rival Sen. John McCain. He said the Arizona senator "joined the parade of politicians who make the same empty promises year after year, decade after decade" when he promised Tuesday to maintain the status quo of refusing any dialogue with the Cuban leadership.
"Instead of offering a strategy for change, he chose to distort my position, embrace George Bush's, and continue a policy that's done nothing to advance freedom for the Cuban people," Obama said.
He said any meetings with the Cuban leadership would be well prepared and guided by the pursuit of liberty and democracy, disputing McCain's characterization of his seeking a meeting with Cuban President Raul Castro "as if I'm looking for a social gathering."
"Throughout my entire life, there has been injustice and repression in Cuba," Obama said. "Never, in my lifetime, have the people of Cuba known freedom. Never, in the lives of two generations of Cubans, have the people of Cuba known democracy. This is the terrible and tragic status quo that we have known for half a century."
After eight years of "disastrous" Bush administration policy, "It is time to pursue direct diplomacy, with friend and foe alike, without preconditions," he said, adding that the time and place would be of his choosing.
