DHAKA: US president Barack Obama said on Friday that it may be time for the United States to revise its policies toward Cuba, against which it has had an embargo for more than half a century.

‘We have to be creative and we have to be thoughtful and we have to continue to update our policies,’ he said at a fundraising event in the Miami area, The Jerusalem Post publishes this report on Saturday.

‘Keep in mind that when Castro came to power I was just born, so the notion that the same policies that we put in place in 1961 would somehow still be as effective as they are today in the age of the Internet, Google and world travel doesn`t make sense,’ he added, referring to Fidel Castro, the leader of the Cuban revolution.

Incremental changes in US Cuba policy have allowed greater communication with people on the island and the transfer of remittances, Obama said.

‘But I think we all understand that ultimately, freedom in Cuba will come because extraordinary activists and the incredible courage of folks like we see here today,’ he told a small audience at the home of Jorge Mas, a telecommunications equipment executive.

‘But the United States can help.’

BDST: 1402 HRS, NOV 09, 2013
RoR/BSK