“I will say something to him (Barack Obama). It is necessary to ease that situation. I will definitely address the topic”.
“His intention is to end the embargo against Cuba,” a source close to the President said to El Observador.
Prudence
But in the Uruguayan government they are aware that this is a very faint first step in an “extremely complex” issue, as stated an informant from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Uruguayan delegation was very careful in preventing any kind of information leakage on this topic as they consider that any element may ruin a possible negotiation.
Still, Mujica revealed certain information when he spoke to some journalists minutes after the conference on Monday.
“It will be necessary to work hard. I think that this is the most mature government for improving the relationship with Cuba. But this is all I can say,” he said.
Some minutes earlier, when asked about the subjects dealt with in the private meeting he answered, “We addressed several issues, but if these are private I am not going to bring them up”.
As El Observador could find out, it was him who brought out the issue in the private space of the meeting held on Monday for an hour and 15 minutes with the U.S. President.
In the Uruguayan delegation nobody wants to reveal Obama´s answer to Mujica´s request for lifting the embargo.
Attitude and Speeches
The Uruguayan President visited Cuba last July and stated then to Búsqueda newspaper that he was willing to seek for understanding with Obama.
“Beyond all speeches, as from his visit to the island, the Uruguayan President is determined to bring it closer to the U.S. In a few months he will meet Obama at the White House and said ´we have to think that things will eventually have to change ´between the U.S. and Cuba”, says the article published in La Habana by the journalist Andrés Danza in August 2013.
The President then claimed that he would take on the role of mediator between the U.S. and Cuba with the “same attitude” than he would in order to achieve a conversation between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the government of such country, presided by Juan Manuel Santos. “It is not a matter of saying it in a speech; it is what I believe in,” he pointed out.
Obstacles
In spite of being optimistic about Mujica´s mediating intentions, the Uruguayan government considers that Obama´s goodwill is not enough. Actually, it was the U.S. President himself who said so to Mujica behind closed doors when he told him that he is not “a monarch”.
That is the expression he used when they were talking about the closure of Guantanamo detention facilities and the Uruguayan President criticized the role of United States in such detention centre.
“I agree with you but you should go to talk to some other people who think differently,” said Obama to Mujica with respect to the Republicans.
Lea la versión en español.
