奥巴马访问古巴发表演讲

US President Barack Obama said on his historic visit to Cuba, that it's time for the United States and Cuba to "bury the last remnants of the Cold War."

Obama said this just before he concluded his three-day visit to the island country, a major step in his recent efforts to restore diplomatic and economic relations.

US President Barack Obama left his most important speech for his final day in Havana -a televised address shown live in Cuba outlining his vision of the future.

With Cuba's President Raul Castro and his cabinet looking on, Obama stressed that the United States would not impose change on Cuba, that was up to the Cubans to do. But he then spoke about what he considers universal human rights.

"I believe citizens should be free to speak their mind without fear, to organize and criticize their government and to protest peacefully and that the rule of law should not include arbitrary detentions of people who exercise those rights," he said.

Obama called on the U.S. Congress to lift the trade embargo but said that to benefit, Cuba needed economic changes as well.

"Even if we lifted the embargo tomorrow Cubans would not realize their potential without continued change here in Cuba. It should be easier to open a business here in Cuba, a worker should be able to get a job directly with companies who invest here in Cuba," he said.

"The internet should be available across the island so that Cubans can connect to the wider world and to one of the greatest engines to human growth in history."

There was another televised appearance on Tuesday that drew an even bigger audience, as the US president attended, along with Castro, an exhibition game between the Cuban National Team and the Tampa Bay Rays. They are the first US major league team to play in this baseball crazy island in decades.
 
Just what impact, if any, President Obama's historic visit to Cuba will have on bringing about political or economic change may become clearer after next month's Communist Party Congress - the first to be held here in five years.