"Just before Obama’s speech, Ecuador’s leftist President Rafael Correa, an ally of Cuba, railed against the embargo and recounted what he said were the sins of U.S. multinational companies in his country. He demanded the return of U.S.-occupied Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and spoke of “North America and our America.”
Obama, in what appeared to be extemporaneous remarks that were not part of his prepared speech, addressed Correa by name, saying he was “not interested in theoretical arguments.” The Cold War, he said, “has been over for a long time, and I’m not interested in having battles that, frankly, started before I was born. What I’m interested in is solving problems and working with you . . . in the spirit of alliance.”
“I always enjoy the history lessons that I receive when I am here,” Obama said evenly. “I’m the first to admit . . . there are dark chapters in our history. . . . We can, I suppose, spend a lot of time talking about past grievances. And I suppose that it’s possible to use the United States as an excuse . . . for political problems that may be occurring domestically” in Latin America. “But that’s not going to bring progress.”
Instead, he said, he would rather talk about climate change, economic growth and security.
Debates about the past, Obama said, in a clear jab at Correa’s economic and political difficulties at home, are “not going to solve the problems of children who can’t read, who don’t have enough to eat. . . . I just want to make very clear that when the United States speaks out on human rights, it’s not because we think we’re perfect, but because we think the idea of not killing people because they disagree with us is the ideal.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/cubas-raul-castro-absolves-obama-of-blame-for-us-policies-toward-island/2015/04/11/7015b934-de22-11e4-b6d7-b9bc8acf16f7_story.html
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