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                  Anticipation Rises for Obama, Castro to Talk

   by Luis Ramirez

   U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro were set to
   make history Saturday with a meeting on the sidelines of the Summit of
   the Americas in Panama.

   The face-to-face talks would mark the first meeting of U.S. and Cuban
   leaders since 1956, coming after the two presidents announced plans in
   December to normalize relations between their two nations.

   At the opening of the summit Friday evening, Obama and Castro shook
   hands, a gesture widely seen as symbolic of their effort to bury
   decades of animosity.

   It has been two years since their first handshake at the memorial
   service for former South African President Nelson Mandela.

   Obama administration officials said Friday's interaction was informal,
   without substantive conversation.

   But Saturday's meeting could make news if Obama uses the occasion, as
   some observers anticipate he will, to announce a decision to remove
   Cuba from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. Cuba's demand
   to be taken off the list has been an obstacle in negotiations over
   restoring diplomatic ties.

   Cuba's status revisited

   Obama announced Thursday in Jamaica that a State Department review of
   Cuba's status has been completed and said he was awaiting a final
   recommendation.

   Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Senate's
   Foreign Relations panel, said the State Department had recommended
   removing Cuba from the terrorism list. "The United States has a unique
   opportunity to begin a fresh chapter with Cuba,'' he said.

   The president previously signaled he would be willing to drop the
   "state terrorism" label as part of normalizing relations with Cuba. The
   three other countries on the list are Iran, Sudan and Syria.

   The administration's recent overtures to Cuba have drawn sharp rebuke
   from critics such as Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a former and
   perhaps future presidential candidate. He objected to Obama's likely
   meeting with Castro, calling the Cuban leader an "entrenched dictator,"
   the Associated Press reported.

   "President Obama is truly writing new chapters in American foreign
   policy,'' Graham was quoted by AP. "Unfortunately, these latest
   chapters are ones of America and the values we stand for - human
   rights, freedom and democracy - in retreat and decline.''

   On Wednesday, Obama and Castro spoke by phone before the U.S. leader
   left for the summit, according to the White House. Obama's deputy
   national security adviser, Ben Rhodes, said the two leaders reviewed
   efforts to fully restore diplomatic relations but still had
   "differences."

   The two leaders also spoke by telephone briefly in December, before Mr.
   Obama announced the shift in U.S. policy toward Cuba.

   Their developing relationship has not gone unnoticed.

   At the summit's opening ceremony, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
   praised both leaders "for initiating normalization of bilateral
   relations."

   Kerry and counterpart meet

   The summit already has provided impetus for a meeting late Thursday
   between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Cuban counterpart -
   the highest-level direct meeting in decades between the two governments

   A senior State Department official said that Kerry's talk with Foreign
   Minister Bruno Rodriguez was "very constructive" and that both sides
   "agreed they made progress."

   Obama said Friday he's pleased that Cuba is being represented for the
   first time at the Summit of the Americas. The event, which takes place
   every three years, began in 1994.

   In a speech to civil society leaders at this year's gathering in Panama
   City, he said he hopes efforts to restore diplomatic relations with
   Cuba will improve the lives of the Cuban people.

   "Civil society is the conscience of our countries. It's the catalyst of
   change," he said, adding "strong nations don't fear active citizens,
   strong nations embrace and support and empower active citizens."

   "As we move towards the process of normalization, we'll have our
   differences government to government with Cuba, on many issues, just as
   we differ at times with other nations within the Americas, just like we
   differ with our closest allies, there is nothing wrong with that,"
   Obama said. "But I am here to say when we do speak out we're going to
   do so, because the United States of America does believe, and will
   always stand for, a certain set of universal values."

   Obama also reassured regional leaders the U.S. was no longer interested
   in imposing its will on Latin America: "The days in which our agenda in
   this hemisphere so often presumed the United States could meddle with
   impunity -- those days are past.''

   ''
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/anticipation-rises-for-obama-castro-to-talk/2715371.html