Leading Cuban dissidents, including some who have been critical of president Barack Obama's policy of engaging with the Cuban government, spent nearly two hours on Tuesday discussing human rights with the president at the US embassy. The frank meeting ended only when Obama’s aides ushered him out to reach the Estadio Latinoamericano in time for the first pitch of the Cuban national baseball team's game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Crowning a remarkable visit to Cuba, United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday declared an end to the “last remnant of the Cold War in the Americas” and openly urged the Cuban people to pursue a more democratic future for their nation 90 miles from Miami. He also sent a strong message to his critics back in the US.
President Barack Obama in Havana has a busy agenda scheduled for Tuesday which includes a major speech that Cuban officials said would be carried on TV. Before departing for Argentina, Obama has planned to meet with political dissidents and attend a game between Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays and Cuba's beloved national team.
Cuban President Raul Castro directly challenged President Obama on the heels of their historic meeting in Havana on Monday to lift more restrictions on the island and return land used for the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay – as the visiting U.S. president, in turn, chided the Cuban government on democracy and human rights
Cuban President Raúl Castro sparred with US reporters on Monday over Cuba’s human-rights record, saying at one point that it was not fair to ask about prisoners in general and at another point that he would release by the end of the day anyone named as a political prisoner by a reporter.
There is no doubt about the participation of the United States in Argentina’s bloody 1976-1983 military dictatorship, Human Rights Secretary Claudio Avruj said in Buenos Aires following the news that Washington announced it will declassify military and intelligence files from the Dirty War period ahead of Barack Obama’s visit to the country.
US markets rose on Wednesday, following the decision by the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates unchanged and a statement indicating the rate would only rise twice in 2016. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 79.64 points to 17,331.17. The S&P 500 gained 11.68 points to 2,027.61, while the tech-focused Nasdaq index was up 35.30 at 4,763.97.
The New York Times published on Thursday an editorial in which the newspaper referred to president Barack Obama’s visit to Argentina next week and the role played by the United States in the country’s 1976-1983 civil-military dictatorship, saying the president of that country “should make a pledge that Washington will more fully reveal its role in a dark chapter of Argentine history.”
President Barack Obama nominated veteran appellate court judge Merrick Garland to the US Supreme Court on Wednesday setting up a potentially ferocious political showdown with Senate Republicans who have vowed to block any Obama nominee.
It would be 'hasty' to consider that Argentina is ready to sign a trade agreement with the United States, but in any case the issue must be addressed by Mercosur, and it's the whole group that should advance in that direction, said Argentina's foreign minister Susana Malcorra.