President Obama makes remarks at Grand Teatro de La Havana Alonso Havana, Cuba. Watch in the player below.
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HAVANA (AP) -- He says it's a "new day" in U.S.-Cuban relations -- but President Barack Obama is making it clear that some longstanding differences between the two nations have not gone away.
After a meeting in Havana with Cuban President Raul Castro, Obama said he had raised "very serious differences" on democracy and human rights. But he also said those difficult conversations can clear the way for closer ties.
The Cuban leader, meanwhile, is calling on the United States to lift even more restrictions on Cuba. He's also urging the return of land used for the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay.
Raul Castro said in a statement after today's historic meeting in Havana that he welcomes changes to allow commercial flights to resume. But he says an economic blockade that remains in place is the "most important obstacle" to Cuba's economic development and the well-being of the Cuban people.
Castro says he recognizes that the White House wants to lift the blockade, but that Congress has refused to go along.
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