The president of the United States Barack Obama gave an interview to the television program “State of the Union with Candy Crowley” on CNN recorded last Friday and broadcast on Sunday, December 21.
Among other issues of US today, Obama addressed the impact of the recent rapprochement between Washington and Havana and its possible implications for the immediate future.
The US president acknowledged that international isolation policy applied by his country to the Island for over 50 years “to try to overthrow the regime has not worked.”
The rapprochement between the two countries would give the opportunity to influence events in Cuba at a time of generational change, said Obama in the popular television program on Sunday, adding that this is the time to try “something different”.
Obama said his critics accuse him of supporting dictators, but he accused them of wanting to shoot first and think later, with the simple intention of projecting force, according to reports from various news agencies.
The president referred to the firmness with which he treats governments that violate international law or act against the United States, while he mentioned Russia as an example. However, he emphasized the need to solve problems diplomatically whenever there is a possibility.
Regarding the controversial military prison located at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, said that he will “do everything possible” to close it. Recently four prisoners in the facility were sent to Afghanistan, while others were allowed to live in Uruguay, with the favor of Uruguayan President José Mujica.
The United States Congress stands strong obstacles to Obama for closure of a prison to which he described from the beginning of his term in 2008 as “detrimental to the image of the United States.”
Obama said in the interview that in the case of the closure of the prison, it would remove “a subject that continues to inspire jihadists and extremists in the world” to continue terrorist actions, plus being expensive for taxpayers, as per detainee they spend millions of dollars.
