WASHINGTON, Dec 10 – President Barack Obama’s handshake with
Cuba’s President Raul Castro Tuesday at a memorial service for the late
South African leader Nelson Mandela was not “pre-planned,” a US official
said.
“This wasn’t a pre-planned encounter,” a White House
official said. “Above all else, today is about honouring Nelson
Mandela, and that was the president’s singular focus at the memorial
service. We appreciate that people from all over the world are
participating in this ceremony.”
The handshake dominated news of the ceremony in memory of Mandela at a stadium in Soweto.
Obama offered the handshake before taking the stage to eulogize
Mandela, but minutes later, made a clear swipe at states like Cuba,
saying those who proclaim Mandela’s legacy must honor its meaning by
easing curbs on freedom.
In Cuba, a government website saw the gesture as a hopeful sign of possible “beginning of the end of the US aggressions.”
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