“To the Cuban people, America extends a hand of friendship.”

—  Barack Obama

2014, Statement on Cuban policy (December 2014)
Context: To the Cuban people, America extends a hand of friendship. Some of you have looked to us as a source of hope, and we will continue to shine a light of freedom. Others have seen us as a former colonizer intent on controlling your future. José Martí once said, “Liberty is the right of every man to be honest.” Today, I am being honest with you. We can never erase the history between us, but we believe that you should be empowered to live with dignity and self-determination. Cubans have a saying about daily life: “No es facil” –- it’s not easy. Today, the United States wants to be a partner in making the lives of ordinary Cubans a little bit easier, more free, more prosperous.
To those who have supported these measures, I thank you for being partners in our efforts. In particular, I want to thank His Holiness Pope Francis, whose moral example shows us the importance of pursuing the world as it should be, rather than simply settling for the world as it is; the government of Canada, which hosted our discussions with the Cuban government; and a bipartisan group of congressmen who have worked tirelessly for Alan Gross’s release, and for a new approach to advancing our interests and values in Cuba.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Sept. 30, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "To the Cuban people, America extends a hand of friendship." by Barack Obama?
Barack Obama photo
Barack Obama 1158
44th President of the United States of America 1961

Related quotes

Barack Obama photo

“Nobody represents America’s values better than the American people, and I believe this contact will ultimately do more to empower the Cuban people.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

2014, Statement on Cuban policy (December 2014)

Joni Madraiwiwi photo
Ernesto Che Guevara photo

“The victory of the Cuban Revolution will be a tangible demonstration before all the Americas that peoples are capable of rising up, that they can rise up by themselves right under the very fangs of the monster.”

Ernesto Che Guevara (1928–1967) Argentine Marxist revolutionary

Mobilising for Invasion (1961)
Variant: The victory of the Cuban Revolution will be a tangible demonstration before all the Americas that peoples are capable of rising up, that they can rise up by themselves right under the very fangs of the monster.

Nelson Mandela photo

“The Cuban people hold a special place in the hearts of the people of Africa.”

Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) President of South Africa, anti-apartheid activist

1990s, Speech at a Rally in Cuba (1991)
Context: We have long wanted to visit your country and express the many feelings that we have about the Cuban revolution, about the role of Cuba in Africa, southern Africa, and the world. The Cuban people hold a special place in the hearts of the people of Africa. The Cuban internationalists have made a contribution to African independence, freedom, and justice, unparalleled for its principled and selfless character.

Abdollah Javadi-Amoli photo

“…the UN is in the hands of America. The Security Council is in the hands of America. The IAEA Board of Governors is in the hands of America.”

Abdollah Javadi-Amoli (1933) Iranian politician

Friday Sermon in Qom, Iran: Ayatollah Javadi-Amoli Calls on Americans Not to Vote for Bush http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/114.htm, June 19, 2004.
America

Robert Louis Stevenson photo

“In real life, help is given out of friendship, or it is not valued; it is received from the hand of friendship, or it is resented.”

Source: Across the Plains (1892), Ch. IX, Beggars.
Context: We should wipe two words from our vocabulary: gratitude and charity. In real life, help is given out of friendship, or it is not valued; it is received from the hand of friendship, or it is resented.

Barack Obama photo

“But I believe those human rights are universal. I believe they are the rights of the American people, the Cuban people, and people around the world.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

2016, Remarks to the People of Cuba (March 2016)
Context: I believe that every person should be equal under the law. Every child deserves the dignity that comes with education, and health care and food on the table and a roof over their heads. I believe citizens should be free to speak their mind without fear to organize, and to criticize their government, and to protest peacefully, and that the rule of law should not include arbitrary detentions of people who exercise those rights. I believe that every person should have the freedom to practice their faith peacefully and publicly. And, yes, I believe voters should be able to choose their governments in free and democratic elections. Not everybody agrees with me on this. Not everybody agrees with the American people on this. But I believe those human rights are universal. I believe they are the rights of the American people, the Cuban people, and people around the world.

Farrokh Tamimi photo
Dejan Stojanovic photo

“One hand I extend into myself, the other toward others.”

Dejan Stojanovic (1959) poet, writer, and businessman

"Almighty Shape," p. 9
The Shape (2000), Sequence: “Home of the Shape”

Hillary Clinton photo

Related topics