奇速英语

奥巴马访问古巴

In anticipation(预料) of an extraordinary visit, the streets and buildings of Havana, Cuba, were cleaned and painted by dozens of workers. What was the occasion?

For the first time in nearly 90 years, a sitting United States president was coming to Cuba, an island nation 90 miles south of Florida. On Sunday, President Barack Obama, joined by his family, stepped off Air Force One and onto a rainy runway, where Cuban dignitaries(高官) eagerly awaited him. “It’s wonderful to be here,” the president said. The last time a U.S. president came to Cuba was in 1928. It was President Calvin Coolidge, and he arrived on a battleship. Obama will be in Cuba through Tuesday. He is set to meet with Cuba’s president, Raúl Castro, attend a state dinner and even take in a baseball game.

A presidential visit would have been unthinkable 50 years ago. The U.S. cut all ties with Cuba after Fidel Castro’s communist government took control of the island in 1959. In the years that followed, both countries’ opposing political views furthered the separation. Plans for social and economic change began after President Fidel Castro transferred power to his brother, Raúl in 2008. Raúl Castro then set a plan in motion to revive the country’s economy.

Since then, Cuba has been taking small, yet lasting steps toward change by removing a number of restrictions that had been set on its citizens, such as access to the Internet, the use of cellphones, and by allowing people to work at jobs not controlled by the government. Cuba, however, still has tough limits on media, public assembly and political opposition.

Obama hopes to share his vision for Cuba’s future during a speech he will deliver. Before the trip, Senior Advisor Ben Rhodes said the president hoped to use this visit as a way to “continue to create openings for greater engagement(联系) between the American and Cuban people.”