MAKING good on a pledge to change U.S. posture toward Cuba, U.S. President Barack Obama opened talks Tuesday with Cuban President Raul Castro, the second time the leaders of the once-estranged nations have met this year.

    Obama and Castro smiled and shook hands before beginning their private talk on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations.

    The encounter comes as the Cold War adversaries go about the long and complex process of normalizing relations following decades of animosity. The U.S. recently eased rules for citizens who want to visit or do business in Cuba to help foster greater economic freedom on the island.

    Bruno Rodriguez, Cuba’s foreign minister, said after the meeting that the pace of normalizing relations will require Obama using his executive authority to substantially modify the decades-old U.S. economic embargo.

    Rodriguez said actions Obama has taken so far “have a very limited value, a very limited scope and do not deal with any significant aspects when it comes to the implementation of the blockade against Cuba.”

    But many Republican lawmakers, and some Democrats, oppose lifting the embargo at this stage.

    Obama and Castro surprised the world last December by announcing they had agreed to restore diplomatic relations.

    Since then, the two countries have reopened embassies in each other’s capitals. But sharp differences remain, particularly over Cuba’s human rights record and detainment of political prisoners and the economic embargo.

    (SD-Agencies)