US President Barack Obama said yesterday that he is looking for signs from Cuba that it’s willing to change before taking further steps to improve US-Cuban relations. Obama already has lifted restrictions on visits to Cuba by Americans who have families there. He says his steps so far are “extraordinarily significant” for those families. Obama was speaking after meeting in Mexico City with Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

Calderon said that after 50 years, it’s clear that the US embargo against Cuba has been a failed strategy. Obama said a relationship that’s been frozen for 50 years “won’t thaw overnight.” But he says Cuba can show it wants to move forward by lifting its own restrictions on Cubans’ ability to travel and to voice their opinions.