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U.S. National Security Council

Obama visits Cuban church in Miami

David Jackson
USA TODAY
President Obama, with Father Juan Rumin Dominguez at the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity.

President Obama, who is seeking to normalize relations with Cuba, visited a church Thursday where some congregants have questioned the new policy: Cuban-Americans.

Obama visited the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity in Miami to "pay his respects to the Cuban-American diaspora that worship there," said National Security Council Spokesperson Bernadette Meehan.

The president honored "the sacrifices that Cuban-Americans have made in their pursuit of liberty and opportunity, as well as their extraordinary contributions to our country," she said.

Some members of Miami's large Cuban community oppose Obama's efforts to re-establish diplomatic relations with the communist nation, saying the U.S. should ramp up its economic embargo and work to oust the ruling Castro regime.

Meehan provided a quote from Obama's speech on Cuba in December:

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"Countless thousands of Cubans have come to Miami -- on planes and makeshift rafts; some with little but the shirt on their back and hope in their hearts. Today, Miami is often referred to as the capital of Latin America. But it is also a profoundly American city -- a place that reminds us that ideals matter more than the color of our skin, or the circumstances of our birth; a demonstration of what the Cuban people can achieve, and the openness of the United States to our family to the South."

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