- Sat Dec 20, 2014 12:37 pm
#51076
HAVANA — President Raúl Castro declared victory for the Cuban Revolution on Saturday in a wide-ranging speech, thanking President Obama while also reaffirming that restored relations with the United States did not mean the end of Communist rule in Cuba.
In a televised speech that lasted less than an hour at the end of Cuba’s legislative session, Mr. Castro alternated between conciliatory and combative statements against the United States and the rest of the world. Mr. Castro, wearing a traditional white shirt and only occasionally gesturing for emphasis, also referred repeatedly to President Obama, praising him at one point for initiating big changes in America. He insisted as he and Fidel Castro have insisted for years that the United States not meddle in the sovereign affairs of the Cuban state.
“Every country has the inalienable right to choose its own political systems,” Mr. Castro said. “No one should believe that improving relations with the United States means Cuba renouncing its ideas.”
