“There are profound differences between our countries that will not go away”, Castro said plainly.
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(Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) U.S. President Barack Obama (3rd L) and Cuban President Raul Castro (L) review troops before bilateral meetings at the Palace of the Revolution March 21, 2016 in Havana, Cuba.
The U.S. embassy in Havana reopened last August, symbolizing a “thaw” in U.S.-Cuba relations. But Obama is under pressure from critics at home to push Castro’s Communist government to allow political dissent and to further open its Soviet-style economy.
Members of dissident group “Ladies in White”, wives of former political prisoners, are detained during their protest on Sunday.
Obama has urged Congress to rescind the 54-year-old embargo but has been rejected by the Republican leadership. “I’m not saying it’s not honest…but let us work so we can all comply with all human rights”, added Castro, before ending the press conference citing prior scheduled commitments to attend.
“The Cubans that I talk to down here want to preserve what’s best from their revolution, and they want to get rid of the worst of their revolution”, he said.
“The Cuban people do not have freedom of speech or even movement”, he said.
But harsh treatment of political opponents and wretched human-rights records have not stopped the USA having diplomatic relations with other authoritarian regimes.
According to Western Union, cash remittances to Cuba amounted to US$2.8 billion in 2013, with 90 per cent originating from the United States. Castro did not meet the plane and there were no military honors.
Earlier in March, US Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes said the White House had ruled out a meeting between Obama and Fidel Castro, and that it was something they “certainly wouldn’t seek”.
However, the United States still disagrees with Cuba on multiple human rights issues, like the capture of political prisoners.
During a press event televised live on Monday in Havana, Cuba, Raul Castro publicly excoriated the United States over its double standards regarding human rights.
Obama, midway through his history-making trip to Cuba, succeeded in getting Cuba’s leader to submit to questioning by reporters, a routine occurrence for USA presidents but an anomaly in a communist country where the media are tightly controlled.
“I don’t think we cannot use the argument of human rights for political confrontation, that is not fair, it’s not correct. I’ve said consistently after more than five very hard decades, the relationship between our governments will not be transformed overnight”.
Obama, in an interview with ABC News, said he has no problem with such a meeting “just as a symbol of the end of this Cold War chapter”.
“He’ll pull together all of these themes he’s been discussing…to say why he believes we should be hopeful for the future”.
“This is a historic visit and a historic opportunity”, said Obama.
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During his first full day in the country on Monday, Obama stopped at Revolution Square, where for decades Raul Castro’s brother, Fidel Castro, led million-strong rallies against the evils of USA “imperialism”.
