Obama shakes hands with Raul Castro
December 10, 2013 | 06:05 PM
At a memorial ceremony in South Africa today for President Nelson Mandela, President Barack Obama shook hands with Cuban President Raul Castro, The Guardian reported.
It was the first time a U.S. president has shaken hands in public with a Cuban leader since the Cuban revolution, the newspaper reported, while noting that President Bill Clinton did shake hands privately with former Cuban President Fidel Castro at a United Nations luncheon in 2000.
The United States and Cuba do not have formal diplomatic relations and the United States has placed a general embargo on trade with Cuba, although sales of U.S. pharmaceutical products and farm products are allowed.
It was the first time a U.S. president has shaken hands in public with a Cuban leader since the Cuban revolution, the newspaper reported, while noting that President Bill Clinton did shake hands privately with former Cuban President Fidel Castro at a United Nations luncheon in 2000.
The United States and Cuba do not have formal diplomatic relations and the United States has placed a general embargo on trade with Cuba, although sales of U.S. pharmaceutical products and farm products are allowed.
