MEXICO CITY, April 17 (RIA Novosti) - U.S. President
Barack Obama said he is waiting for Havana to make the next
step to improve relations after Washington lifted curbs on
visits and money sent to Cuba.
Earlier this week, Obama announced that Americans with
relatives in Cuba would be able to visit and send money to the
Caribbean island.
"There are a range of steps that could be taken on the
part of the Cuban government that would start to show that they
want to move beyond the patterns of the last 50 years," Obama
said following a meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
However, he also said again that the U.S. would not end
its trade embargo against the communist island without steps
from Cuba's leaders on lifting restrictions on its own people.
Cuban President Raul Castro responded to Obama's statement
by saying that Havana was willing to discuss "everything -
human rights, freedom of the press, political prisoners," but
only on the condition that Cuba was regarded as an equal in any
discussions, and that Washington recognized "the Cuban people's
right to self-determination."
The United States imposed an economic, trade and financial
embargo against Cuba in 1962, three years after the Cuban
Revolution that saw the downfall of Washington-backed dictator
Gen. Fulgencio Batista.
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