WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama asked Spain to send Cuba a message about the need for reform when he met Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero earlier this month, according to a U.S. official.
Six days after their meeting on Oct. 13 at the White House, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos visited the Caribbean island and met President Raul Castro.
“When (Obama) learned that Foreign Minister Moratinos was about to go to Havana, he suggested that Moratinos urge the Castro regime to take steps to reform and improve human rights,” the U.S. official said on Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The request from Obama to deliver a message to Cuba was first reported by the El Pais newspaper. Washington and Havana have had hostile relations ever since Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution steered the island towards communism.
According to El Pais, Obama talked of a potential turning point in the relationship but said it was important for Cuba take some steps.
“Have (Moratinos) tell the Cuban authorities we understand that change can’t happen overnight, but down the road, when we look back at this time, it should be clear that now is when those changes began,” Obama told Zapatero, according to diplomatic sources quoted by El Pais.
