US President Barack Obama says sanctions imposed on Cuba will not be lifted soon after the Caribbean country’s parliament unanimously ratifies a bill to normalize US relations.
Obama said at a year-end news conference on Friday that the decades-long trade embargo on Havana would not be lifted soon.

"I think that ultimately we need to go ahead and pull down the embargo, which I think has been self-defeating in advancing the aims that we're interested in," Obama said. "But I don't anticipate that that happens right away."

Obama’s remarks came after Cuban MPs unanimously voted in favor of a deal between the two countries in an attempt to normalize ties after a half-century of hostility.

The US president said he wished to visit Cuba yet it was not the right time to do so or to host Cuban President Raul Castro in Washington.

"We will be in a position to respond to whatever actions they take, the same way we do with a whole range of countries around the world when they do things we think are wrong," Obama said.

Speaking from the White House on Wednesday, Obama announced the end of what he acknowledged was a "rigid" policy of isolation of Cuba which had been ineffective.

Cuba and the United States have not had diplomatic relations since 1961. However, Washington maintains an interests section on the island.

They became ideological foes soon after the 1959 revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power.

The United States imposed a partial trade embargo on the Caribbean island nation in October 1960.

Washington imposed a full trade embargo on Cuba in February 1962.

By Press TV

 

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