Cuban President Raul Castro and his US counterpart Barack Obama had an hour’s worth of talk during the “VII Cumbre De Las Americas”, held in Panama.

The face-to-face meeting between the two leaders, which is the first to take place since 1956, came to seal the two countries’ willingness to participate in negotiations, after half a century of hostility.

Before they met during the Americas summit, Obama thanked his Cuban counterpart for the latter’s goodwill and openness to talks. He noted that the talks between Washington D.C. and Havana is a historic point of reference.