French President Challenges Obama To End “Cold War” Against Cuba

French President Francois Hollande delivers a speech next to Cuban President Raul Castro during a press conference at the Elysee Presidential Palace on February 01, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images)

By NAN Contributor

News Americas, PARIS, France, Fri. Feb. 5, 2016: French President François Hollande is urging U.S. President Barack Obama to go a step further and end the “Cold War” against Cuba.

Hollande’s comments came Cuban President Raul Castro paid a historic visit to France this week.

“This embargo, the blockade must be scrapped,” Hollande said at a press conference after meeting Castro on Monday. “President Obama, who has taken things forward, must, as he himself has said, follow through and bring an end to this vestige of the Cold War.”

Hollande welcomed the 84-year-old leader to the Elysée presidential palace and said France will further help Cuba by converting 200 million euros of its debt into an investment fund.

He also said the government will set up a Franco-Cuban fund of 212 million euros to encourage French companies to invest in Cuba.

The trip to France is the first by a Cuban head of state since Fidel Castro visited then president Francois Mitterrand in 1995.