After Historic Cuba Meeting, Obama Has Hurdle of Delivering

First on the agenda will be determining whether to remove Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism.

US President Barack Obama leaves after a press conference at the Summit of the Americas at the ATLAPA Convention Center on April 11, 2015 in Panama City.
MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

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By Angela Greiling Keane, Raymond Colitt and Toluse Olorunnipa

April 13, 2015 at 4:00 AM UTC

Updated on

April 13, 2015 at 5:16 PM UTC

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President Barack Obama, returning to Washington after a historic meeting Saturday with Cuban President Raul Castro, now faces the difficult work of tearing down bureaucratic barriers built up over five decades.

First on the agenda will be determining whether to remove Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism, after the State Department sent its recommendation to the White House last week. Obama also promised to work toward reopening embassies and convincing Congress to peel back sanctions against the Communist island first put in place during President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s administration.