Panama: 'Overwhelming' support for US policy on Cuba - Obama

There is an "overwhelming" support in Cuba and the United States for the US government's policy of engagement with Cuba, US President Barack Obama said in Panama City at the Summit of the Americas on Saturday. Speaking at a press conference, Obama added that "if you keep doing something for 50 years and it doesn't work, you should try something new" addressing the renewed bilateral relations between Cuba and the US. However the president pointed out that the US still has concerns regarding "specific activities" including regarding "reform" and "human rights" in Cuba. He added that he had spoken to two members of Cuban civil society, Friday, and that they told him how they lived on a day-to-day basis, and expressed support for the US policy of engagement with Cuba. Cuban President Raul Castro and Obama sat down on the side-lines of the summit, Saturday, for the first formal meeting between leaders of the two countries in more than half a century.