Historic Obama-Castro meeting may take place at Panama summit

Raul Castro, who took control of the 11-million-strong still nominally Communist island from his brother Fidel seven years ago, has confirmed he will be the first Cuban leader to attend the Summit of the Americas in Panama this week. With Barack Obama in attendance too, it is a gathering that may see the first substantive meeting between U.S. and Cuban leaders in half a century. With days to go, diplomats are still discussing what form a Castro-Obama meeting might take.

It’s useful, obviously, to be able to have that contact and move things along so that we can get things done and open embassies and move ahead with this relationship.

Roberta Jacobson, senior State Department official

In December 2013, amid an upwelling of amity that followed Nelson Mandela’s death, the pair shook hands briefly at a memorial service in Johannesburg. This time round officials are looking for something a bit more substantive. Options range from a simple “grip-and-grin” photo, to an historic head-to-head sit down. But Cuba-US relations remain fraught and a decision on a head-to-head presidential meeting may come down to the wire.

Americas Cuba