cuban leader bluntly stated at the year end news conference don t expect cuba to abandon the communist system. what tell does that tell you as we going deal with cuba on a official level? well, i support barack obama s initiative on normalizing relations. but there is still going to be serious problems. we have to realize this is a very hard lined regime. and the area of human rights we have to keep pressing. release of cuban political prisons, they have done some but not enough. repression of pro democracy groups. in is the area where the cubans are sensitive. i remember when i used to go to cuba and meet with groups. cubans would go wild. they would be upset. i think we need to stand behind these dissent groups and get the international community behind us. get the pope. that s part of the deal. cuba has to move toward