--- title: Barack Obama on Belgium Attacks: "The World Must Unite" description: President Obama began his speech to the Cuban people Tuesday by addressing the day's terrorist attacks in Brussels that left dozens dead. canonical: https://time.com/4267561/barack-obama-brussels-terror-attacks-cuba/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-22T14:36:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T16:06:34.751Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama on Belgium Attacks: 'The World Must Unite' og:description: "We will do whatever is necessary to support our friends and allies in Belgium." og:url: https://time.com/4267561/barack-obama-brussels-terror-attacks-cuba/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0f35edd8f6bbe13/69888c00524fc05205df7493/obama-cuba1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: U.S. President Barack Obama delivers a speech at the Gran Teatro in Havana Cuba og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama on Belgium Attacks: 'The World Must Unite' twitter:description: "We will do whatever is necessary to support our friends and allies in Belgium." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0f35edd8f6bbe13/69888c00524fc05205df7493/obama-cuba1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama on Belgium Terror Attacks: 'The World Must Unite'  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Mar 22, 2016 2:36 PM UTC  U.S. President Barack Obama delivers a speech at the Gran Teatro in Havana, Cuba, on March 22, 2016. U.S. President Barack Obama delivers a speech at the Gran Teatro in Havana, Cuba, on March 22, 2016.Carlos Barria—Reuters  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Mar 22, 2016 2:36 PM UTC President Obama began his [speech to the Cuban people](http://time.com/4267503/barack-obama-cuba-speech/?xid=tcoshare) Tuesday by addressing the day’s [terrorist attacks in Brussels](http://time.com/4267343/brussels-attacks-isis-analysis/?xid=homepage) that left dozens dead. Speaking in Havana Tuesday morning, Obama said, “The thoughts and the prayers of the American people are with the people of Belgium. We stand in solidarity with them.” “We will do whatever is necessary to support our friends and allies in Belgium in bringing to justice those who are responsible,” he continued. “This is yet another reminder that the world must unite. We must be together, regardless of nationality or race or faith, in fighting against the scourge of terrorism. We can and we will defeat those who threaten the safety and security of people all around the world.” Obama’s speech was aimed at talking directly with the Cuban people, whom he hopes the ongoing rapprochement will benefit. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4267561/barack-obama-brussels-terror-attacks-cuba/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4267561/barack-obama-brussels-terror-attacks-cuba/"},"headline":"Obama on Belgium Terror Attacks: 'The World Must Unite'","datePublished":"2016-03-22T14:36:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:06:34.751Z","description":"President Obama began his speech to the Cuban people Tuesday by addressing the day's terrorist attacks in Brussels that left dozens dead.","url":"https://time.com/4267561/barack-obama-brussels-terror-attacks-cuba/","keywords":["White House","Barack Obama","Cuba topic","Belgium"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0f35edd8f6bbe13/69888c00524fc05205df7493/obama-cuba1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0f35edd8f6bbe13/69888c00524fc05205df7493/obama-cuba1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. President Barack Obama delivers a speech at the Gran Teatro in Havana Cuba","caption":"U.S. President Barack Obama delivers a speech at the Gran Teatro in Havana Cuba","creditText":"Carlos Barria—Reuters","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/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4267561/barack-obama-brussels-terror-attacks-cuba/","name":"Obama on Belgium Terror Attacks: 'The World Must Unite'"}}]}] ```