Susan Rice: We Are Not Making Concessions to Cuba

WOODRUFF: "Let me turn the corner to Cuba. The president is going to make this historic visit this weekend, the first visit by an American president there since Calvin Coolidge. How close does President Obama want relations to be between the U.S. and Cuba?"
RICE: "Well, Judy, it’s not about how close. I mean, obviously, this is a very new diplomatic relationship. It’s just begun in the last several months. Normalization is at the early stages, and it’s going to take time. There are real differences that remain between our governments and our systems. And so we’re not going to be best friends. That’s not what we’re talking about here. But it is about moving out of a 50-year failed policy that yielded no change towards an era of engagement, which we’re confident, over time, will open up society in Cuba. But at the people-to-people level, we think that there is a natural affinity between the people of Cuba and the people of the United States."
WOODRUFF: "Well, speaking of what you just mentioned, what do you say who oppose this kind of normalization with Cuba who say what’s happened here is that the U.S. has given in, has made concessions on things like travel and trade, while the Cubans have done almost nothing when it comes to human rights and democracy, in other words, that the U.S. has done more giving than the Cubans?"
RICE: "Well, Judy, what we would say is, first of all, it is not a concession to allow U.S. businesses to operate and compete in Cuba, when our partners have been doing so for many years. It’s not a concession for Americans to travel. That is in our interest. Our view is, rather than continue to do the same failed thing over and over again and hope for a different result, instead, we should do what has worked in so many other contexts around the world, which is to give the Cuban people the opportunity to engage with American ingenuity, American entrepreneurs, American civil society leaders, and to see through that engagement a future that they only — only themselves can bring to Cuba over the long term."
WOODRUFF: "President Obama’s national security adviser, Susan Rice, we thank you."
RICE: "It’s good to be with you, Judy."