--- title: Read a Transcript of Obama's Press Conference in Havana description: Here is a transcript of the full event. canonical: https://time.com/4266772/barack-obama-raul-castro-press-conference-transcript/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-21T20:30:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:20.082Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read a Transcript of Obama's Press Conference in Havana og:description: Here is a transcript of the full event. og:url: https://time.com/4266772/barack-obama-raul-castro-press-conference-transcript/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c75ac228798bacd/69888bdf0b72e3befd6e89e4/516833986.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: President Obama Meets With Cuban President Raul Castro In Havana og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read a Transcript of Obama's Press Conference in Havana twitter:description: Here is a transcript of the full event. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c75ac228798bacd/69888bdf0b72e3befd6e89e4/516833986.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read a Transcript of Obama's Press Conference in Havana by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Mar 21, 2016 8:30 PM UTC  U.S. President Barack Obama (R) and Cuban President Raul Castro pose for photographs after greeting one another at the Palace of the Revolution March 21, 2016 in Havana, Cuba. The first sitting U.S. president to visit Cuba in 88 years, Obama and Castro will sit down for bilateral talks and will deliver joint statements to the news media. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images U.S. President Barack Obama (R) and Cuban President Raul Castro pose for photographs after greeting one another at the Palace of the Revolution March 21, 2016 in Havana, Cuba. The first sitting U.S. president to visit Cuba in 88 years, Obama and Castro will sit down for bilateral talks and will deliver joint statements to the news media. Chip Somodevilla—Getty ImagesChip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Mar 21, 2016 8:30 PM UTC President Obama [met with Cuban President Raúl Castro](http://time.com/4266394/obama-cuba-castro-meeting/) in Havana, Cuba, Monday, where the two held a joint press conference. Here is a transcript of the full event. --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4266772/barack-obama-raul-castro-press-conference-transcript/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4266772/barack-obama-raul-castro-press-conference-transcript/"},"headline":"Read a Transcript of Obama's Press Conference in Havana","datePublished":"2016-03-21T20:30:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:20.082Z","description":"Here is a transcript of the full event.","url":"https://time.com/4266772/barack-obama-raul-castro-press-conference-transcript/","keywords":["Cuba","Barack Obama","Foreign Policy","White House","Cuba","Raul Castro"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c75ac228798bacd/69888bdf0b72e3befd6e89e4/516833986.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Teague Beckwith","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c75ac228798bacd/69888bdf0b72e3befd6e89e4/516833986.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Obama Meets With Cuban President Raul Castro In Havana","caption":"President Obama Meets With Cuban President Raul Castro In Havana","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/cuba/","name":"Cuba"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4266772/barack-obama-raul-castro-press-conference-transcript/","name":"Read a Transcript of Obama's Press Conference in Havana"}}]}] ```