In Miami, McCain attacks Obama on Cuba

By Steve Holland

MIAMI (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain criticized Democratic front-runner Barack Obama on Tuesday for saying he was willing to meet with Cuban President Raul Castro and accused him of wanting to weaken the U.S. embargo against Cuba.

Seeking to rally Florida's influential Cuban-American vote behind him, McCain vowed to maintain a strict economic embargo on Cuba until its communist government releases political prisoners, grants basic freedoms and schedules internationally monitored elections.

McCain's visit to Miami was all about appealing to Cuban-Americans, from his stop for coffee at a Little Havana cafe to his visit to a memorial for Cubans killed fighting the communist government.

Obama's willingness to hold talks with leaders of countries hostile to the United States, including Iran, Cuba and North Korea, has prompted daily attacks by McCain over foreign policy.

At a town hall meeting, a Cuban-American crowd booed Obama when McCain said that if elected in November the Illinois senator would "sit down unconditionally for a presidential meeting with Raul Castro -- an unconditional meeting."

McCain contrasted Obama's position to that of Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, saying, "Roosevelt didn't talk with (Adolf) Hitler, Reagan didn't talk with (Soviet leader Leonid) Brezhnev or his two successors until (Mikhail) Gorbachev was ready to change his position."

Obama has presented his openness toward meeting leaders of countries hostile to the United States as an example of his status as a Washington outsider willing to consider new ways to address foreign policy problems.

He has said he would like to ease stringent U.S. restrictions to grant Cuban-Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send remittances to the island.