Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/656845
ByJuliePaceand Michael Weissenstein The Associated Press HAVANA Capping his re- markable visit to Cuba, President Barack Obama on Tuesday declared an end to the "last remnant of the Cold War in the Americas" and openly urged the Cu- ban people to pursue a more democratic future for this communist nation 90 miles from the Florida coast. With Cuban President Raul Castro watching from a balcony, Obama said the government should not fear citizens who speak freely and vote for their own leaders. And with Cu- bans watching on tightly controlled state television, Obama said they would be the ones to determine their country's future, not the United States. "Many suggested that I come here and ask the peo- ple of Cuba to tear some- thing down," Obama said. "But I'm appealing to the young people of Cuba who will lift something up, build something new." On the streets of Ha- vana, the president's ad- dress sparked extraordi- narily rare public discus- sions about democracy, and some anger with Cu- ba's leaders. Cubans are used to complaining bit- terly about economic mat- ters but rarely speak pub- licly about any desire for political change, particu- larly in conversations with foreign journalists. Juan Francisco Ugarte, Oliva, a 71-year-old retired refrigeration technician, said the American president "dared to say in the pres- ence of the leaders, of Raul Castro, that (Cubans) had the right to protest peace- fully without being beaten or arrested." Omardy Isaac, a 43-year- old who works in a gift shop, said, "Cubans need all of their rights and I am in favor of democracy." Later, Obama sat beside Castro at a baseball game between Cuba's beloved na- tional team and the Tampa Bay Rays of America's Ma- jor League Baseball. Leav- ing the game early for Jose Marti International Air- port, Obama was met there again by Castro who walked him to Air Force One. They chatted in relaxed fashion, any awkwardness or tension apparently gone from the previous day's news conference that saw Castro hit with tough ques- tions from U.S. reporters. How quickly political change comes to Cuba, if at all, is uncertain. But the re- sponse from at least some Cubans was certain to be seen by Obama as valida- tion of his belief that re- storing ties and facilitating more interactions between Cuba and the United States is more likely than contin- ued estrangement to spur democracy. "What the United States was doing was not work- ing," Obama said. He reit- erated his call for the U.S. Congress to lift the eco- nomic embargo on Cuba, calling it an "outdated bur- den on the Cuban people" — a condemnation that was enthusiastically cheered by the crowd at Havana's Grand Theater. The president's visit was a crowning moment in his and Castro's bold bid to re- store ties after a half-cen- tury diplomatic freeze. While deep differences persist, officials from both countries are in regular contact, major U.S. compa- nies are lining up to invest in Cuba, and travel restric- tions that largely blocked Americans from visiting have been loosened. After arriving Sun- day, Obama plunged into a whirlwind schedule that blended official talks with Castro and opportunities to soak in Cuba's culture. He toured historic sites in Old Havana in a rainstorm, ate at one of the city's most pop- ular privately owned restau- rants and joined a big crowd for Tuesday's baseball game. The fans roared as Obama and his family en- tered the stadium, which underwent an extensive upgrade for the game. Cas- tro joined the Obama fam- ily and sat alongside the president behind home plate — one of several mo- ments from the U.S. presi- dent's trip that would have been barely imaginable just months ago. Obama also met Tues- day with about a dozen dis- sidents, praising them for showing "extraordinary courage." The group in- cluded journalist Miriam Celaya, attorney Laritza Di- versent and activists Man- uel Cuesta and Jose Daniel Ferrer. The White House said the meeting was a prereq- uisite for Obama in coming to Cuba. Yet the gathering did little to appease those who say he hasn't gotten enough human rights con- cessions from the Castro government to justify the American economic invest- ment expected to pour into the island. Cubans have been riveted by 15 months of changes in their country's relationship with the United States. But they've learned of it almost entirely through state-run media who have focused on two primary themes — the embargo's continued re- sponsibility for Cuban eco- nomic problems and the im- portance of Cuba changing at its own pace, not one im- posed by Washington. Obama's speech was the first opportunity for Cubans to hear his vision of warm- ing U.S.-Cuban relations as closely linked to Cuba's in- ternal evolution. It's a vision of free speech, free assem- bly and the ability to earn a living without relying on a centrally controlled econ- omy. The president appeared to deliberately use neutral terms to describe the Cuban state: "a one-party system" and "a socialist economic model" that "has empha- sized the role and rights of the state." Obama's last day in Cuba was shadowed by the hor- rific attacks in Brussels, where scores of people were killed in explosions at the airport and a metro sta- tion. The president opened his remarks by vowing to do "whatever is necessary" to support Belgium. VISIT In Cuba, Obama calls for burying 'last remnant' of Cold War REBECCABLACKWELL—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS U.S. President Barack Obama, right, and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro wave to cheering fans as they arrive for a baseball game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban national baseball team, in Havana, Cuba, on Tuesday. By Dan Elliott The Associated Press DENVER Climate change could upset the complex interplay of rain, snow and temperature in the West, hurting food production, the environment and elec- trical generation at dams, the federal government warned Tuesday. Some areas could get more rain and less snow, reducing the snowmelt flowing into reservoirs in the summer when farmers need it to irrigate, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation re- port said. Higher temperatures would mean more evapora- tion from reservoirs, partic- ularly in California's Sac- ramento and San Joaquin river basins. The delta of the Sacramento and San Joaquin provides water for two-thirds of Californians and irrigation for nearly a million acres of farmland. Hotter summers would also mean more demand for hydroelectric power in the summer, but reservoirs may have less water to run their generators then be- cause of changes in precip- itation patterns, the bureau said. The report, "Reclamation Climate Change and Water 2016," looked at eight rivers from Washington state to Texas, including the Colum- bia, the Missouri, the Colo- rado and the Rio Grande as well as the Sacramento and San Joaquin. The Bureau of Reclama- tion is the largest whole- saler of water in the U.S. and the largest hydropower provider in the West. The report was based on the bureau's research and peer-reviewed studies by others, the agency said. But it acknowledged uncertain- ties in the projections and said the impacts would be different because of varying terrain and weather. The agency suggested a variety of tactics to deal with the potential changes, including conserving and recycling water, building desalinization plants and erecting new dams or ex- panding existing ones. Other suggestions in- cluded updating hydro- power plants to operate when reservoirs have less water, repairing leaking ir- rigation canals and refill- ing underground aquifers, which supply farm and city wells. Jack Schmidt, a profes- sor of watershed sciences at Utah State University who wasn't involved in the study, said solutions have to be tai- lored to specific river ba- sins. On the Colorado River, the biggest users are near the downstream end, and water flows along nearly the entire length of the water- way to get to them, he said. On the Rio Grande, the big users are at the upper end, leaving less water to flow downstream. "We have to be very intelligent about how we adjust and modify human uses and how we choose which river segment to aggressively attempt to rehabilitate," he said. HIGHER TEMPERATURES Study: Farms, hydropower at risk in West's changing climate P.O.Box220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 Support our classrooms, keep kids reading. DONATE YOUR VACATION newspaper dollars to the Newspaper In Education Program HELP OUR CHILDREN Formoredetailscall Circulation Department (530) 73 7-5047 Please help sponsor a classroom subscription Call Kathy at (530) 737-5047 to find out how. ThroughtheNewspapersinEducation program, area classrooms receive the Red Bluff Daily News every day thanks to the generosity of these local businesses & individuals. 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