such a wuss. i mean, he should be invading cuba and bombing the shit out those commies, not cozying up to them, right? 😉
Obama and Castro in historic US-Cuba meeting
US President Barack Obama and Cuban leader Raul Castro met briefly on Friday
US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro have met on the fringes of the summit of the Americas, the first formal talks between the two countries’ leaders in half a century.
Earlier, Mr Obama described the historic thaw in US-Cuba relations as a "turning point".
This is their first full meeting since the thaw began in December.
Mr Castro has called for the lifting of the US economic blockade on Cuba, in place since 1959.
He also described Mr Obama as an "honest man" after a lengthy speech largely taken up with the history of US-Cuba relations.
"When I talk about the revolution, the passion oozes out of me," the Cuban leader said. "I have to ask President Obama for forgiveness. He is not responsible for the things which happened before his time."
Earlier, Mr Obama told fellow leaders: "This shift in US policy represents a turning point for our entire region.
"The fact that President Castro and I are both sitting here today marks a historic occasion," he said, while admitting there were still significant differences.
This was Cuba’s first time at a Summit of the Americas and Raul Castro certainly made the most of the stage he was offered.
He joked that as he had missed the previous six summits, he would multiply the eight minutes he had been allotted for his speech by as much.
In the end, he was not far off that length.
He began with a passionate history lesson, recounting the revolution and the many US attempts to overthrow and destabilise the Communist government.
But he then apologised to President Obama, saying that he could not be blamed for events which predated his presidency and called the US leader "an honest man".
President Obama, for his part, said he did not want to be "imprisoned" by history but would look towards the future – a future in which considerable differences between the US and Cuba would persist, he said, but in which he would not be caught up in ideology.
The US broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1959 after Fidel Castro and his brother Raul led a revolution toppling US-backed President Fulgencio Batista. The Castros established a revolutionary socialist state with close ties to the Soviet Union.
The Summit of the Americas brings together the leaders of North, Central and South America. This, the seventh, is the first which Cuba is attending.
Attempts to improve relations between the US and Cuba began in December when Mr Obama declared Washington’s approach "outdated".
A marching band performed at the summit’s opening ceremony
This seventh summit is the first in which all 35 nations are represented
The US president is expected to raise the issue of political reform in Cuba when he meets Mr Castro. Human rights are also of concern to Washington.
Along with an end to the embargo, Havana wants removal from Washington’s list of state sponsors of terrorism, something Mr Obama has already signalled he is prepared to do.
Cuba’s presence on the list has been one of the main hurdles on the way to closer ties between the two countries as it hampers Cuba’s ability to conduct financial transactions.
President Maduro has said that Venezuela has come to the summit in a "constructive spirit"
As US ties with Cuba improve, those between Venezuela and Washington remain fractious.
The US imposed sanctions last month on a group of Venezuelan officials it accuses of human rights abuses. Mr Obama also issued an executive order declaring Venezuela a threat to US national security.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, speaking at the summit, described the order as "disproportionate" but said he was ready to talk with the US president to "resolve differences".
The summit also highlighted stark differences between President Rafael Correa of Ecuador and the US.
Mr Correa said the US had failed to live up to its ideals: "Let’s talk about human rights. In Ecuador we don’t have torture, the death penalty or extrajudicial renditions."
In response, Mr Obama said he always "enjoyed the history lessons" he received a such summits, but was the first to acknowledge US faults.
"America does not make a claim to being perfect; we make a claim to being open to change," he said.