substantive talks in u.s.-cuba relations , president barack obama met for an hour saturday with his cuban counterpart raul castro , the first time the two nations ' top leaders have sat down for substantive talks in more than 50 years .
the meeting in a small conference room on the sidelines of the summit of the americas came as the two countries work to end the cold war enmity that decades of strain had done little to benefit either cubans or citizens of the united states .
it was time for us to try something new , '' he said , `` i want to make sure i have a chance to read it .