Spain’s Prime Minister, Jose Luis Zapatero, visited the White House on October 13, soon before the Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, paid a visit to Raúl Castro in Havana on October 19. According to Spain’s El País, President Obama used this opportunity to ask Spain to deliver a message to the Cuban regime.
From Reuters:
“Have (Moratinos) tell the Cuban authorities we understand that change can’t happen overnight, but down the road, when we look back at this time, it should be clear that now is when those changes began,” Obama told Zapatero, according to diplomatic sources quoted by El Pais.
“We’re taking steps, but if they don’t take steps too, it’s going to be very hard for us to continue,” Obama said.
There is a lot of history among the three countries (think colonialism, fight for independence, Spanish-American War in 1898), but Obama is right to see Spain’s good current relationship with Cuba as another avenue by which to court Havana.
