By Fox News Latino. Cuban President Raul Castro recounted the history of U.S. “imperialist aggression” in Latin America in an address here Saturday at the 7th Summit of the Americas, although he absolved U.S. head of state Barack Obama of responsibility for those past actions.

Castro, whose country was invited to the gathering for the first time this year, received an ovation when he began his speech by saying the “time had come for him to speak here” on Communist-ruled Cuba’s behalf.

He referred to the United States’ “wars, conquests and interventions” in the region, saying through an interpreter that the country has been a “hegemonic force that plundered territories throughout the Americas.”

Castro recalled that the U.S. Congress authorized military intervention in Cuba in the late 19th century and that led to the establishment of a military base in Guantanamo that still “occupies our territory.”

In the 20th century, the United States carried out a series of “interventions to overthrow democratic governments” in Latin America, where “dictators were installed in 20 countries, 12 of them simultaneously.” (Read more from “Castro Absolves Obama of Fault for U.S.’ ‘Imperialist Aggression'” HERE)

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Floridians Question Special Treatment Afforded Cuban Immigrants

By Sally Kestin, Megan O’Matz and John Maine. More Floridians than not support ending special immigration privileges for Cubans, though a considerable number are unsure of their position on the complex U.S. policy, according to a new Sun Sentinel poll.

Thirty-seven percent favor ending the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966, which gives Cubans preferential treatment over other immigrants, while 27 percent want to keep it. One-third were unsure.

The poll found even less support for the “wet foot/dry foot” policy granting entry to Cubans who make it to land while returning those intercepted at sea. Nearly 46 percent said that policy should end while 27 percent favor continuing it.

The Obama administration has said it has no plans to change Cuban immigration policy, but the poll results reflect public sentiment against it in the state with the largest Cuban population in the country.

“It seems like a strong vote of no confidence in the status quo,” said Marc R. Rosenblum, an immigration expert at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan Washington think tank. “If this policy loses support in Florida, it’s hard to see where there’s going to be strong demand to maintain [it].” (Read more from this story HERE)

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Photo Credit: USA Today

So far, it’s delivered.

There have been fisticuffs between rival Cuban protesters, an angered Cuban delegation over credentials and reports of the killer of Cuban icon Che Guevara mingling with opposition leaders outside the meetings.

And that’s all before President Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro have even set foot in this tropical city.

In the most talked-about incident, a group of anti-Castro Cuban demonstrators on Wednesday planned to lay flowers at a bust of Cuban patriarch José Martí near the Cuban embassy here when they were confronted by a group of pro-Castro activists. (Read more from “Cuba Protests Make Waves at Panama Summit” HERE)

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Historic Encounter with Cuba’s Castro Awaits Obama in Panama

By Josh Lederman. Turning the page on a half-century of hostility, President Barack Obama signaled Thursday he will soon remove Cuba from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, boosting hopes for improved ties as he prepared for a historic encounter with Cuban President Raul Castro.

Hours before his arrival in Panama for a regional summit, Obama said the U.S. State Department had finished its review of Cuba’s presence on the list, a stain on the island nation’s pride and a major stumbling block for efforts to mend U.S.-Cuba ties. A top senator confirmed that the agency had recommended removing Cuba from the list, all but ensuring action by the president within days.

“We don’t want to be imprisoned by the past,” Obama said during a visit to Kingston, Jamaica. “When something doesn’t work for 50 years, you don’t just keep on doing it. You try something new.”

With his optimistic assessment, Obama sought to set the tone for the U.S. and Cuba to come closer to closing the book on more than a half-century of estrangement, when he and Castro come face to face at the Summit of the Americas. Obama arrived Thursday evening in Panama City.

The highly anticipated interaction with Castro will test the power of personal diplomacy as the two leaders attempt to move past the sticking points that have interfered with their attempt to relaunch diplomatic relations. (Read more from this story HERE)

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