Members of the Ladies in White group, one of Cuba’s most prominent opposition groups, were expected to attend Obama’s meeting with Cuban dissidents.
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Google hopes to become the first American Internet provider to connect Cuba with the rest of the world by expanding WiFi and broadband access to the country’s businesses and citizens. Castro responded that if the reporter, CNN’s Jim Acosta, provided him a list and “if there are political prisoners then, before night falls, they will be free”.
Obama’s and Castro’s comments were broadcast live on state television, which is tightly controlled by the government and the Communist Party.
Later, Castro delivered a litany of areas where he said the US was failing, from inadequate health care to lower pay for women.
It was the most awkward ending to a presidential press conference in recent memory: Raúl Castro seizing President Obama’s left forearm and hoisting it skyward, the presidential wrist left to dip in the air. Though Castro’s answers were far from forthcoming, the mere occurrence of the news conference was significant in that way. Added Ricardo Herrera, a street food vendor, “It’s like a movie, but based on real life”.
“He is fighting for us Cubans to take away the blockade” – the word Cubans use for the trade embargo – “and to help the conditions, to help Cubans and help with the rebuilding”, said Alonso of Obama.
Cuba has been criticized for briefly detaining demonstrators thousands of times a year but has drastically reduced its practice of handing down long prison sentences for crimes human rights groups consider to be political.
As the handshake ended, Obama appeared to use his left arm to reach for Castro’s back for a friendly pose before the cameras. Officials have described said the Internet as a potential tool for the United States to exert influence over the island’s culture and politics. The U.S. leader traveled with his family and was taking in the sights in Old Havana and attending a baseball game between the beloved Cuban national team and the Tampa Bay Rays.
Obama needs Cuba to commit to more reforms in order to make more progress on the domestic front, where bipartisan congressional action will be needed for the United States to lift the embargo and allow unrestricted investment in the Cuban economy.
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Hotel deals Starwood Hotels yesterday signed three deals for three hotels in Cuba, the first time a U.S. hotel company has reached such agreements in nearly 60 years.
