US President Barack Obama and Cuban
President Raul Castro have met on the fringes of the Summit of the
Americas, the first formal talks between the two countries' leaders in
half a century.
Earlier, Mr Obama described the historic thaw in US-Cuba relations as a "turning point".
This is their first full meeting since the thaw began in December.
Mr Castro has called for the lifting of the US economic blockade on Cuba, in place since 1959.
Sensitive issues
President
Obama said that it was time to "try something new" and that it was
important for the US to engage more directly with the Cuban government
and the Cuban people.
He added that over time it would be possible
to "turn the page" on old divisions but he acknowledged that there were
still significant differences.
"We have both concluded that we can disagree with a spirit of respect and civility."
Mr
Obama said that immediate tasks include normalising diplomatic
relationships between the two countries and opening a US embassy in
Havana and a Cuban embassy in Washington DC.
Mr Castro said that he was ready to talk about sensitive issues but that patience would be needed.
"We are willing to make progress in the way the president has described," he said.
At the scene - Vanessa Buschschluter, BBC News, Panama City
This was Cuba's first time at a Summit of the Americas and Raul Castro certainly made the most of the stage he was offered.
He
joked that as he had missed the previous six summits, he would multiply
the eight minutes he had been allotted for his speech by as much.
In the end, he was not far off that length.
He
began with a passionate history lesson, recounting the revolution and
the many US attempts to overthrow and destabilise the Communist
government.
But he then apologised to President Obama, saying
that he could not be blamed for events which predated his presidency and
called the US leader "an honest man".
President Obama, for his
part, said he did not want to be "imprisoned" by history but would look
towards the future - a future in which considerable differences between
the US and Cuba would persist, he said, but in which he would not be
caught up in ideology.
Earlier, the Cuban leader referred to Mr Obama as an "honest man"
after a lengthy speech largely taken up with the history of US-Cuba
relations.
"When I talk about the revolution, the passion oozes
out of me," the Cuban leader said. "I have to ask President Obama for
forgiveness. He is not responsible for the things which happened before
his time."
Speaking to fellow leaders, Mr Obama said: "This shift in US policy represents a turning point for our entire region."
The
US broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1959 after Fidel Castro
and his brother Raul led a revolution toppling US-backed President
Fulgencio Batista. The Castros established a revolutionary socialist
state with close ties to the Soviet Union.
The Summit of the
Americas brings together the leaders of North, Central and South
America. This, the seventh, is the first which Cuba is attending.
Attempts
to improve relations between the US and Cuba began in December when Mr
Obama declared Washington's approach "outdated".
Political reform and human rights in Cuba are matters of particular concern to Washington.
Along
with an end to the embargo, Havana wants removal from Washington's list
of state sponsors of terrorism, something Mr Obama has already
signalled he is prepared to do.
Cuba's presence on the list has
been one of the main hurdles on the way to closer ties between the two
countries as it hampers Cuba's ability to conduct financial
transactions.
As US ties with Cuba improve, those between Venezuela and Washington remain fractious.
The
US imposed sanctions last month on a group of Venezuelan officials it
accuses of human rights abuses. Mr Obama also issued an executive order
declaring Venezuela a threat to US national security.
Venezuelan
President Nicolas Maduro, speaking at the summit, described the order as
"disproportionate" but said he was ready to talk with the US president
to "resolve differences".
The summit also highlighted stark differences between President Rafael Correa of Ecuador and the US.
Mr
Correa said the US had failed to live up to its ideals: "Let's talk
about human rights. In Ecuador we don't have torture, the death penalty
or extrajudicial renditions."
In response, Mr Obama said he always
"enjoyed the history lessons" he received a such summits, but was the
first to acknowledge US faults.
"America does not make a claim to being perfect; we make a claim to being open to change," he said.
US President Barack Obama has told
Latin American leaders that the days when his country could freely
interfere in regional affairs are past.
He was speaking just before the seventh Summit of the Americas in Panama City.
Mr
Obama and Cuban leader Raul Castro shook hands as the opening ceremony
began, their first encounter since a December detente.
But their historic formal talks due on Saturday could be overshadowed by tensions between Venezuela and the US.
Mr
Obama told a forum of civil society leaders in Panama City that "the
days in which our agenda in this hemisphere presumed that the United
States could meddle with impunity, those days are past".
Bumpy ride
At
past Summits of the Americas, which bring together the leaders of
North, Central and South America, the US has come in for criticism for
its embargo against Cuba and its objection to having Cuba participate in
the gatherings.
This seventh summit is the first which Cuba will
attend and much of the attention will be focussed on the body language
between the former foes.
Barack Obama and Raul Castro are due to meet again later on Saturday.
It will be the first formal encounter between the leaders of the US and
Communist-run Cuba in more than five decades.
Before the summit
began, the US president stressed that he hoped the thaw in relations
would improve the lives of the Cuban people.
"Not because it's
imposed by us, the United States, but through the talent and ingenuity
and aspiration and the conversation among Cubans, among all walks of
life. So they can decide what is the best course of prosperity."
Later, Mr Obama and Mr Castro joined representatives from 35 nations for the summit's inauguration ceremony.
A marching band and children in national dress of the participating countries waved flags as the summit opened to applause.
Analysis: Vanessa Buschschluter, BBC News, Panama City
While
Mr Obama name-checked Cuba when he was talking about the US's days of
meddling being in the past, the message was equally - if not more so -
aimed at Venezuela.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has not only accused the US of meddling but of fomenting a coup against his government.
His open distrust of Mr Obama was only heightened when the US
president signed an executive order last month declaring Venezuela a
threat the the national security of the US.
US officials have since said the wording was "completely pro-forma" but the damage had been done.
It had not only incensed Mr Maduro but also Latin American leaders sensitive to what they see as US imperialist rhetoric.
The
tone of the summit could well hang on whether Mr Obama's latest
assurances sway Mr Maduro and his left-wing allies, who form a powerful
bloc at the summit. Mr
Obama's speech before the summit came a day after the State Department
recommended that Cuba be removed from the US lists of countries which
sponsor terrorism.
Its presence on the list has been one of the main hurdles on the way to closer ties between the two countries.
The
president said on Thursday that all he was waiting for now was a
recommendation from his advisers, leaving many expecting an announcement
at the summit.
The smooth progress made between Cuba and the US
stands in contrast to the bumpy ride that have been relations between
Venezuela and the US over the past months.
The two countries have not exchanged ambassadors for more than six
years, but tensions rose last month when the US imposed sanctions on a
group of Venezuelan officials it accuses of human rights abuses.
As
part of the sanctions, Mr Obama issued an executive order declaring
Venezuela a threat to the national security of the United States.
President Maduro has collected more than 10 million signatures demanding its repeal.
Their
meeting at the summit, while less historic than the one between Mr
Castro and Mr Obama, is drawing as much attention for its
unpredictability.
Mr Maduro sent out mixed messages on Friday.
In a clear swipe at the US, he visited a monument to the victims of the 1989 US invasion of Panama just hours after he landed.
But he also said that it was "time nor for imperialism, but for peace".
"We're
in a battle of ideas, in a fight so that Venezuela is respected, we're
coming here in a constructive spirit, to make history through respect,"
he said.
