Raúl Castro to address United Nations General Assembly Sept. 28

Cuban President Raúl Castro will address the United Nations General Assembly on the afternoon of Sept. 28, a revised U.N. speakers list revealed on Tuesday (Sept. 15.) President Obama also appears on the list of speakers for that day.

Castro’s visit to New York City will be his first time as president of Cuba. The brothers visited Houston in April 1959, a time when relations between revolutionary Cuba and the U.S. were still cordial.

Raúl Castro’s speech will follow by three days a speech to be delivered by Pope Francis on Sept. 25. Francis will tour Cuba from Sept. 19 to Sept. 22 before traveling to the United States.

Castro will be present in the General Assembly hall when Pope Francis delivers his address, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez told the media on Wednesday (Sept. 16.)

Castro will remain in New York City several days, participating in scheduled events and General Assembly debates, Rodríguez said. The Cuban president has no plans to meet with President Obama, though there may be “some interaction” between them while both are in the U.N. building, the minister added.

“He will hold numerous bilateral meetings with other heads of state and government, and will also hold meetings with various sectors of U.S. society including personalities and representatives of solidarity groups and Cuban émigrés,” Rodríguez said.

The general debate of the 70th session of the General Assembly will proceed from Sept. 28 to Oct. 6.

Last April 10, Raúl Castro and Obama met in Panama, during the Summit of the Americas. It was their first formal meeting in half a century. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was present at that historic encounter.

[Photo at top shows Castro and Obama shaking hands at that time; Ban Ki-moon stands between them. Behind Castro are interpreter Juana Vera GarcÌa and Alejandro Castro Espín, Raúl’s son.]