◼ President Raúl Castro declared victory for the Cuban Revolution on Saturday in a wide-ranging speech, thanking President Obama for “a new chapter” while also reaffirming that restored relations with the United States did not mean the end of Communist rule in Cuba. - New York Times
In a televised speech before Parliament and a group of favored guests — including Elián González, the center of a tug of war in 2000 between Cuban exiles and Havana, and the three men convicted of spying in the United States who were released as part of the historic agreement announced on Wednesday — Mr. Castro alternated between conciliatory and combative statements directed at the United States.
He stoked the flames of Cuban nationalism, declaring near the end of his statement, “We won the war.” But he also praised Mr. Obama for starting the biggest change in United States-Cuba policy in more than 50 years.
Cárdenas, Cuba, home to Elián González, is a growing city of contrasts and contradictions, where some still celebrate Che Guevara.Crucible of Cuban Zeal Redefines RevolutionaryDEC. 19, 2014
“The Cuban people are grateful,” he said, for Mr. Obama’s decision “to remove the obstacles to our relations.”
