The President:
Thank you. (applause) Muchas
gracias. Thank you
so much. Thank you
very much. President Castro,
the people of Cuba, thank you so much for the warm
welcome that I have received, that my family
have received, and that our delegation
has received. It is an extraordinary
honor to be here today. Before I begin,
please indulge me. I want to comment on the
terrorist attacks that have taken
place in Brussels. The thoughts and the prayers
of the American people are with the people
of Belgium. We stand in solidarity
with them in condemning these outrageous attacks
against innocent people. We will do whatever is
necessary to support our friend and ally, Belgium,
in bringing to justice those who are
responsible. And this is yet another
reminder that the world must unite, we must be
together, regardless of nationality, or race,
or faith, in fighting against the scourge
of terrorism. We can -- and we will --
defeat those who threaten the safety and security of
people all around the world. To the government and the
people of Cuba, I want to thank you for the kindness
that you've shown to me and Michelle, Malia, Sasha,
my mother-in-law, Marian. "Cultivo una
rosa blanca." (applause) In his most famous poem,
Jose Marti made this offering of friendship
and peace to both his friend and
his enemy. Today, as the President
of the United States of America, I offer the Cuban
people el saludo de paz. (applause) Havana is only 90 miles
from Florida, but to get here we had to travel
a great distance -- over barriers of
history and ideology; barriers of pain
and separation. The blue waters beneath
Air Force One once carried American battleships
to this island -- to liberate, but also to
exert control over Cuba. Those waters also
carried generations of Cuban revolutionaries
to the United States, where they built support
for their cause. And that short distance
has been crossed by hundreds of thousands
of Cuban exiles -- on planes and makeshift rafts --
who came to America in pursuit of freedom and opportunity,
sometimes leaving behind everything they owned and
every person that they loved. Like so many people in
both of our countries, my lifetime has spanned a
time of isolation between us. The Cuban Revolution took
place the same year that my father came to the
United States from Kenya. The Bay of Pigs took place
the year that I was born. The next year, the entire
world held its breath, watching our two countries,
as humanity came as close as we ever have to
the horror of nuclear war. As the decades rolled by,
our governments settled into a seemingly
endless confrontation, fighting battles
through proxies. In a world that remade
itself time and again, one constant was the conflict
between the United States and Cuba. I have come here to
bury the last remnant of the Cold War
in the Americas. (applause) I have come here to extend
the hand of friendship to the Cuban
people. (applause) I want to be clear: The
differences between our governments over these
many years are real and they are
important. I'm sure President Castro
would say the same thing -- I know, because
I've heard him address those differences
at length. But before I discuss those
issues, we also need to recognize how
much we share. Because in many ways, the
United States and Cuba are like two brothers
who've been estranged for many years, even as
we share the same blood. We both live in a new world,
colonized by Europeans. Cuba, like the United
States, was built in part by slaves brought
here from Africa. Like the United States,
the Cuban people can trace their heritage to both
slaves and slave-owners. We've welcomed both
immigrants who came a great distance to start
new lives in the Americas. Over the years, our cultures
have blended together. Dr. Carlos Finlay's work
in Cuba paved the way for generations of doctors,
including Walter Reed, who drew on Dr. Finlay's work
to help combat Yellow Fever. Just as Marti wrote some
of his most famous words in New York, Ernest
Hemingway made a home in Cuba, and found inspiration
in the waters of these shores. We share a national
past-time -- La Pelota -- and later today our
players will compete on the same Havana field that
Jackie Robinson played on before he made his
Major League debut. (applause) And it's said that our
greatest boxer, Muhammad Ali, once paid tribute to a Cuban
that he could never fight -- saying that he would only
be able to reach a draw with the great Cuban,
Teofilo Stevenson. (applause) So even as our governments
became adversaries, our people continued to share
these common passions, particularly as so many
Cubans came to America. In Miami or Havana, you
can find places to dance the Cha-Cha-Cha or the
Salsa, and eat ropa vieja. People in both of our
countries have sung along with Celia Cruz or Gloria
Estefan, and now listen to reggaeton or Pitbull. (laughter) Millions of our people
share a common religion -- a faith that
I paid tribute to at the Shrine of our Lady
of Charity in Miami, a peace that Cubans
find in La Cachita. For all of our
differences, the Cuban and American people share common
values in their own lives. A sense of patriotism
and a sense of pride -- a lot of pride. A profound love
of family. A passion for our
children, a commitment to their education. And that's why I believe
our grandchildren will look back on this period
of isolation as an aberration, as just one chapter
in a longer story of family and
of friendship. But we cannot, and should
not, ignore the very real differences that we have
-- about how we organize our governments, our
economies, and our societies. Cuba has a one-party
system; the United States is a multi-party
democracy. Cuba has a socialist
economic model; the United States is
an open market. Cuba has emphasized the
role and rights of the state; the United States is
founded upon the rights of the individual. Despite these differences,
on December 17th, 2014, President Castro and I announced
that the United States and Cuba would
begin a process to normalize relations
between our countries. (applause) Since then, we
have established diplomatic relations
and opened embassies. We've begun initiatives
to cooperate on health and agriculture, education
and law enforcement. We've reached agreements
to restore direct flights and mail service. We've expanded commercial
ties, and increased the capacity of Americans to
travel and do business in Cuba. And these changes have
been welcomed, even though there are still opponents
to these policies. Still, many people on
both sides of this debate have asked:
Why now? Why now? There is one simple answer:
What the United States was doing
was not working. We have to have the courage
to acknowledge that truth. A policy of isolation
designed for the Cold War made little sense
in the 21st century. The embargo was only
hurting the Cuban people instead of
helping them. And I've always believed in
what Martin Luther King, Jr. called "the fierce
urgency of now" -- we should not fear change,
we should embrace it. (applause) That leads me to a bigger
and more important reason for these changes: Creo
en el pueblo Cubano. I believe in the
Cuban people. (applause) This is not just a policy
of normalizing relations with the Cuban
government. The United States of
America is normalizing relations with
the Cuban people. (applause) And today, I want to share
with you my vision of what our future
can be. I want the Cuban people
-- especially the young people -- to understand why I
believe that you should look to the future with hope;
not the false promise which insists that
things are better than they really are, or the
blind optimism that says all your problems
can go away tomorrow. Hope that is rooted in the
future that you can choose and that you can shape, and that
you can build for your country. I'm hopeful because I
believe that the Cuban people are as innovative
as any people in the world. In a global economy, powered
by ideas and information, a country's greatest
asset is its people. In the United States, we
have a clear monument to what the Cuban people can
build: it's called Miami. Here in Havana, we see
that same talent in cuentapropistas, cooperatives
and old cars that still run. El Cubano
inventa del aire. (applause) Cuba has an extraordinary
resource -- a system of education which values
every boy and every girl. (applause) And in recent years, the
Cuban government has begun to open up to the world,
and to open up more space for that talent
to thrive. In just a few years, we've
seen how cuentapropistas can succeed while sustaining
a distinctly Cuban spirit. Being self-employed is
not about becoming more like America, it's
about being yourself. Look at Sandra Lidice
Aldama, who chose to start a small business. Cubans, she said, can
"innovate and adapt without losing our
identity...our secret is in not copying or imitating
but simply being ourselves." Look at Papito Valladeres,
a barber, whose success allowed him to improve
conditions in his neighborhood. "I realize I'm not
going to solve all of the world's
problems," he said. "But if I can solve problems
in the little piece of the world where I live, it
can ripple across Havana." That's where hope begins
-- with the ability to earn your own living, and to build
something you can be proud of. That's why our policies
focus on supporting Cubans, instead of
hurting them. That's why we got rid of
limits on remittances -- so ordinary Cubans
have more resources. That's why we're
encouraging travel -- which will build bridges
between our people, and bring more revenue to
those Cuban small businesses. That's why we've opened
up space for commerce and exchanges -- so that
Americans and Cubans can work together to find
cures for diseases, and create jobs, and open the
door to more opportunity for the Cuban
people. As President of the United
States, I've called on our Congress to
lift the embargo. (applause) It is an outdated burden
on the Cuban people. It's a burden on the
Americans who want to work and do business or
invest here in Cuba. It's time to
lift the embargo. But even if we lifted
the embargo tomorrow, Cubans would not realize
their potential without continued change
here in Cuba. (applause) 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. Two currencies shouldn't
separate the type of salaries that Cubans
can earn. The Internet should be
available across the island, so that Cubans can connect
to the wider world -- (applause) -- and to one of the
greatest engines of growth in human
history. There's no limitation
from the United States on the ability of Cuba
to take these steps. It's up
to you. And I can tell you as a
friend that sustainable prosperity in the 21st
century depends on education, health care, and
environmental protection. But it also depends on the free
and open exchange of ideas. If you can't access
information online, if you cannot be exposed to
different points of view, you will not reach
your full potential. And over time, the
youth will lose hope. I know these issues
are sensitive, especially coming from an
American President. Before 1959, some
Americans saw Cuba as something to exploit, ignored
poverty, enabled corruption. And since 1959, we've been
shadow-boxers in this battle of geopolitics
and personalities. I know the history, but I
refuse to be trapped by it. (applause) I've made it clear that
the United States has neither the capacity, nor the intention
to impose change on Cuba. What changes come will
depend upon the Cuban people. We will not impose our political
or economic system on you. We recognize that every
country, every people, must chart its own course
and shape its own model. But having removed the
shadow of history from our relationship, I must
speak honestly about the things that I believe -- the things
that we, as Americans, believe. As Marti said, "Liberty is
the right of every man to be honest, to think and to
speak without hypocrisy." So let me tell you
what I believe. I can't force you to agree, but
you should know what I think. I believe that every person
should be equal under the law. (applause) Every child deserves
the dignity that comes with education, and
health care and food on the table and a roof
over their heads. (applause) I believe citizens should
be free to speak their mind without fear -- (applause) -- to organize, and to
criticize their government, and to protest peacefully,
and that the rule of law should not include arbitrary
detentions of people who exercise
those rights. (applause) I believe that every person should have the freedom to practice their faith peacefully and publicly. (applause) And, yes, I believe voters should be able to choose their governments in free
and democratic elections. (applause) Not everybody agrees
with me on this. Not everybody agrees with
the American people on this. But I believe those human
rights are universal. (applause) I believe they are the rights
of the American people, the Cuban people, and
people around the world. Now, there's no secret that
our governments disagree on many of
these issues. I've had frank
conversations with President Castro. For many years, he has
pointed out the flaws in the American system --
economic inequality; the death penalty; racial
discrimination; wars abroad. That's just
a sample. He has a much
longer list. (laughter) But here's what the Cuban
people need to understand: I welcome this open
debate and dialogue. It's good. It's healthy. I'm not
afraid of it. We do have too much money
in American politics. But, in America,
it's still possible for somebody like me --
a child who was raised by a single mom, a child of
mixed race who did not have a lot of money --
to pursue and achieve the highest office
in the land. That's what's
possible in America. (applause) We do have challenges
with racial bias -- in our communities, in our
criminal justice system, in our society -- the legacy
of slavery and segregation. But the fact that we have
open debates within America's own democracy is what
allows us to get better. In 1959, the year that my
father moved to America, it was illegal for him
to marry my mother, who was white, in
many American states. When I first started school, we
were still struggling to desegregate schools
across the American South. But people organized; they
protested; they debated these issues; they challenged
government officials. And because of those protests,
and because of those debates, and because of popular
mobilization, I'm able to stand here today as
an African-American and as President of the
United States. That was because of the
freedoms that were afforded in the United States that we
were able to bring about change. I'm not saying
this is easy. There's still enormous
problems in our society. But democracy is the
way that we solve them. That's how we got health
care for more of our people. That's how we made enormous
gains in women's rights and gay
rights. That's how we address
the inequality that concentrates so much wealth
at the top of our society. Because workers can organize
and ordinary people have a voice, American
democracy has given our people the
opportunity to pursue their dreams and enjoy a
high standard of living. (applause) Now, there are still
some tough fights. It isn't always pretty,
the process of democracy. It's often
frustrating. You can see that in the
election going on back home. But just stop and
consider this fact about the American campaign that's
taking place right now. You had two Cuban Americans
in the Republican Party, running against the legacy of a
black man who is President, while arguing that they're
the best person to beat the Democratic nominee who
will either be a woman or a Democratic
Socialist. (laughter and applause) Who would have believed
that back in 1959? That's a measure of our
progress as a democracy. (applause) So here's my message to
the Cuban government and the Cuban people: The
ideals that are the starting point for every revolution --
America's revolution, Cuba's revolution, the
liberation movements around the world
-- those ideals find their truest expression,
I believe, in democracy. Not because American
democracy is perfect, but precisely
because we're not. And we -- like every
country -- need the space that democracy
gives us to change. It gives individuals the
capacity to be catalysts to think in new ways, and to
reimagine how our society should be, and
to make them better. There's already an
evolution taking place inside of Cuba, a
generational change. Many suggested that I come
here and ask the people of Cuba to tear something
down -- but I'm appealing to the young people
of Cuba who will lift something up, build
something new. El futuro de Cuba tiene
que estar en las manos del pueblo
Cubano. (applause) And to President Castro
-- who I appreciate being here today -- I want
you to know, I believe my visit here demonstrates
you do not need to fear a threat from the
United States. And given your commitment
to Cuba's sovereignty and self-determination, I am
also confident that you need not fear the
different voices of the Cuban people -- and
their capacity to speak, and assemble, and vote
for their leaders. In fact, I'm hopeful for
the future because I trust that the Cuban people will
make the right decisions. And as you do, I'm also
confident that Cuba can continue to play an important
role in the hemisphere and around the
globe -- and my hope is, is that you can do so as a
partner with the United States. We've played very different
roles in the world. But no one should deny the
service that thousands of Cuban doctors have delivered
for the poor and suffering. (applause) Last year, American
health care workers -- and the U.S. military -- worked
side-by-side with Cubans to save lives and stamp
out Ebola in West Africa. I believe that we
should continue that kind of cooperation
in other countries. We've been on the
different side of so many conflicts
in the Americas. But today, Americans and
Cubans are sitting together at the negotiating
table, and we are helping the Colombian
people resolve a civil war that's dragged
on for decades. (applause) That kind of cooperation
is good for everybody. It gives everyone in
this hemisphere hope. We took different
journeys to our support for the people of South
Africa in ending apartheid. But President Castro and
I could both be there in Johannesburg to pay
tribute to the legacy of the great
Nelson Mandela. (applause) And in examining his life
and his words, I'm sure we both realize we have more work to do to promote equality in our own countries --
to reduce discrimination based on race in
our own countries. And in Cuba, we want our
engagement to help lift up the Cubans who are
of African descent -- (applause) -- who've proven that there's nothing they cannot achieve when given
the chance. We've been a part of
different blocs of nations in the hemisphere, and
we will continue to have profound differences about
how to promote peace, security, opportunity,
and human rights. But as we normalize our
relations, I believe it can help foster a
greater sense of unity in the Americas --
todos somos Americanos. (applause) From the beginning of my
time in office, I've urged the people of the
Americas to leave behind the ideological
battles of the past. We are in a
new era. I know that many of the
issues that I've talked about lack the
drama of the past. And I know that part of
Cuba's identity is its pride in being a small
island nation that could stand up for its rights,
and shake the world. But I also know that Cuba
will always stand out because of the talent,
hard work, and pride of the Cuban
people. That's your
strength. (applause) Cuba doesn't have to be
defined by being against the United States, any more
than the United States should be defined by
being against Cuba. I'm hopeful for
the future because of the reconciliation
that's taking place among the
Cuban people. I know that for some
Cubans on the island, there may be a sense
that those who left somehow supported the
old order in Cuba. I'm sure there's a
narrative that lingers here which suggests that
Cuban exiles ignored the problems of
pre-Revolutionary Cuba, and rejected the struggle
to build a new future. But I can tell you today
that so many Cuban exiles carry a memory of painful -- and
sometimes violent -- separation. They love
Cuba. A part of them still considers
this their true home. That's why their
passion is so strong. That's why their
heartache is so great. And for the Cuban American
community that I've come to know and respect,
this is not just about politics. This is about family --
the memory of a home that was lost; the desire
to rebuild a broken bond; the hope for a better
future, the hope for return and reconciliation. For all of the politics,
people are people, and Cubans
are Cubans. And I've come here -- I've
traveled this distance -- on a bridge that was built
by Cubans on both sides of the Florida
Straits. I first got to know
the talent and passion of the Cuban
people in America. And I know how they have
suffered more than the pain of exile -- they also
know what it's like to be an outsider, and to
struggle, and to work harder to make sure their children
can reach higher in America. So the reconciliation
of the Cuban people -- the children and
grandchildren of revolution, and the children and
grandchildren of exile -- that is fundamental
to Cuba's future. (applause) You see it in Gloria
Gonzalez, who traveled here in 2013 for the first time
after 61 years of separation, and was met by her
sister, Llorca. "You recognized me, but
I didn't recognize you," Gloria said after she
embraced her sibling. Imagine that,
after 61 years. You see it in Melinda
Lopez, who came to her family's
old home. And as she was walking the
streets, an elderly woman recognized her as her
mother's daughter, and began
to cry. She took her into her home
and showed her a pile of photos that included
Melinda's baby picture, which her mother had
sent 50 years ago. Melinda later said, "So
many of us are now getting so much back." You see it in Cristian
Miguel Soler, a young man who became the first of
his family to travel here after 50 years. And meeting relatives for
the first time, he said, "I realized that
family is family no matter the
distance between us." Sometimes the most important
changes start in small places. The tides of history can
leave people in conflict and exile and poverty. It takes time for those
circumstances to change. But the recognition
of a common humanity, the reconciliation of
people bound by blood and a belief in one another
-- that's where progress begins. Understanding, and listening,
and forgiveness. And if the Cuban people
face the future together, it will be more likely
that the young people of today will be able to live
with dignity and achieve their dreams right
here in Cuba. The history of the United
States and Cuba encompass revolution and conflict;
struggle and sacrifice; retribution and,
now, reconciliation. It is time, now, for us
to leave the past behind. It is time for us to look
forward to the future together -- un future
de esperanza. And it won't be easy, and
there will be setbacks. It will
take time. But my time here in
Cuba renews my hope and my confidence in what
the Cuban people will do. We can make this journey
as friends, and as neighbors, and as family --
together. Si se
puede. Muchas
gracias. (applause)
