President Obama and Raul Castro meet at United Nations

President Barack Obama opened talks Tuesday with Cuban President Raul Castro, the second time the leaders of the once-estranged nations have met this year.

“For 50 years, the United States pursued a Cuba policy that failed to improve the lives of the Cuban people. We changed that. We continue to have differences with the Cuban government. We will continue to stand up for human rights.

“But we address these issues through diplomatic relations, and increased commerce, and people-to-people ties. As these contacts yield progress, I’m confident that our Congress will inevitably lift an embargo that should not be in place anymore," President Obama said during his speech at the UN on Monday.