Obama promises Cuba policy shift

By Jeff Mason

MIAMI (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama said on Friday he would he would pick the time and place for direct diplomatic talks with Cuba as U.S. president and criticized Republican John McCain for embracing failed policies.

Obama, an Illinois senator who is leading New York Sen. Hillary Clinton in the race for their party's White House nomination, has taken heat for saying he was willing to meet with the leaders of countries hostile to the United States, including countries such as Cuba and Iran.

McCain, in Miami on Tuesday, criticized Obama's proposals and vowed to maintain a strict economic embargo on Cuba until its communist government releases political prisoners, grants basic freedoms and schedules internationally monitored elections.

Both candidates are courting Florida's influential Cuban-American community in a state that will be crucial to victory in November's general election.

Obama said McCain had distorted his position.

"John McCain's been going around the country talking about how much I want to meet with Raul Castro, as if I'm looking for a social gathering," Obama said.

"That's not what I said. John McCain knows it."

Obama said McCain had embraced President George W. Bush's policies, which would not advance freedom in Cuba.