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| President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro (Center) |
President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro are preparing to hold historic face-to-face discussions on Saturday, marking the first time leaders of the two nations would be sitting down together since the Cold War.
"I have asked Congress to start working on lifting the embargo to Cuba," Obama said from Panama ahead of the meeting. "I committed to build a new era of cooperation between the countries."
Obama and Castro are in Panama for the Summit of the Americas. Speaking at the First Plenary Sessions of the summit, Obama said Saturday that the U.S. would not be "imprisoned by the past."
While Cuba and the U.S. will always have their differences, better relations between the two countries will be a turning point in the region, he added.
"It will mean more Americans traveling, more commerce, more investment, more opportunities for Cuban people," he said. "We're not caught up in ideology. I'm interested in progress and results. I'm not interested in theoretic arguments. I'm interested in progress for people."
The Cold War is over, Obama said, adding that he is "not interested in having battles that frankly started before I was born."
Castro praised Obama for seeking to end the embargo, calling him "an honest man," and said he applauds the "courageous decision to get involved in this debate with Congress to put this to an end."
On Friday, the two presidents shook hands and chatted, and anticipation was mounting over what effect Saturday's conversation might have on U.S.-Cuba relations.
For decades, the U.S. had blocked Cuba from participating in the summit; in December, the Obama administration announced it planned to restore diplomatic and economic ties with Cuba.
Friday's handshake between the two leaders was friendly and brief, and was the second time Obama and Castro had met. The first was in December 2013, for a three-second handshake during Nelson Mandela's memorial service.
Some have speculated that Obama would use Saturday's discussions as an opportunity to announce he was removing Cuba from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. While the U.S. stopped accusing Cuba of terrorism years ago, the State Department has not yet removed it from that list.
Being taken off the list not only would be a point of pride for Castro, it would also have financial benefits for Cuba.
Obama is scheduled to take questions from reporters Saturday evening before returning to Washington.
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