Obama: ‘It is time now to leave the past behind’

Standing in Havana’s Gran Teatro de la Habana Alicia Alonso President Barack Obama began his approximately 45 minute speech focusing on friendship with the Cuban people by invoking Jose Martí’s “Cultivo una rosa blanca” poem. To those who question his visit to Cuba now, President Obama referenced Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “fierce urgency of now” during his discourse.

Present at the theater were Cuban President Raúl Castro and members of his cabinet. Also in attendance was Cuban dance legend Alicia Alonso, whose name the theater carries. She was greeted warmly by President Obama before making his way to the podium where he spoke. Members of the U.S. delegation including Democratic Senator Pat Leahy and Republican Senator Jeff Flake were also in attendance. The president’s speech was broadcast over Cuban television to the Cuban people.

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