HAVANA—Trying to nudge Cuba toward Democracy, President Barack Obama will decry political repression and economic deprivation and present a vision of closer ties with the U.S. bringing greater freedom and prosperity when he meets with dissidents and speaks to the Cuban people on Tuesday at the close of a trailblazing trip.
Obama’s rationale for coming to Havana was grounded in the notion that direct interaction with Cubans would do more to empower them and bring about change than decades of isolation ever did. So Obama’s speech at the Grand Theater of Havana offers his best chance to make his case for the U.S. and Cuba putting the vestiges of the Cold War behind them.
His meeting later Tuesday with Cuban dissidents critical of President Raul Castro’s government was a prerequisite for the trip, the White House said, pushing back on suggestions that Obama is rewarding a system whose limits on dissent run counter to American values.
