Obama hails warmth with Cuba, concerned over Venezuela

Washington, April 9 (IANS/EFE) US President Barack Obama has said that while the "historic" changes he has made in US policy towards Cuba "are already showing results," neither the US nor the rest of the region should "remain silent" about the situation in Venezuela.

"It's no exaggeration to say that our relationship with the Americas is the best it's been in many decades," Obama said before attending the Summit of the Americas in Panama from April 10-11.

"We're seeing increased contacts between the people of Cuba and the United States, and the enthusiasm of the Cuban people for these changes proves that we're on the right path," he said.

The talks that have followed the announcement of normalisation of ties between Washington and Havana last December are "the highest-level and most intense set of bilateral discussions with Cuba in decades," according to the US president.

"Our diplomats are making significant progress and I'm confident that we will be able to move forward with the re-opening of embassies," Obama told Efe.

Washington and Havana still have "significant differences" over issues related to human rights, he said, insisting that the US "will always support universal values such as freedom of expression and freedom of assembly".

Obama, however, said that neither the US nor the other countries in the region should "remain silent" about the situation in Venezuela.

"We do not believe that Venezuela poses a threat to the United States, nor does the United States threaten the Venezuelan government," he said.

"But we do remain very troubled by the Venezuelan government's efforts to escalate intimidation of its political opponents, including the arrest and prosecution of elected officials on political charges, and the continued erosion of human rights," he said.

Last month, Obama ordered sanctions on members of the Venezuelan government and declared the situation there a "threat" to US national security, aggravating already tense bilateral relations.

The two governments took a step to ease tensions ahead of the summit with a meeting on Wednesday in Caracas between US State Department senior adviser Thomas Shannon and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez, the highest-level bilateral meeting in several years.

--IANS/EFE

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