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Obama: Cuba thaw helps US stay in control
Detente ‘consolidates power in Latin America’

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama said detente with Cuba would help “consolidate” US power in Latin America in his state of the union address on Tuesday.

Mr Obama urged the US Congress to lift the 55-year blockade that has abjectly failed to destroy Cuban socialism while drawing worldwide condemnation.

“Fifty years of isolating Cuba had failed to promote democracy, setting us back in Latin America,” he said.

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