At a joint press conference Monday with President Barack Obama, Cuban dictator Raul Castro was asked about political prisoners being held by his government.
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With the historic visit which culminated in the first-ever state visit by a sitting US president in 90 years, critics slammed White House for facilitating a new approach to US-Cuban relations amid deep unresolved issues such as human rights and the Castro regime’s protection of some of America’s most wanted fugitives.
“President Castro addressed what he views as shortcomings in the United States around basic needs for people, and poverty and inequality and race relations”, he said.
Obama spoke of “the beauty of Cuba and its people” and he was optimistic of the prospect of Americans helping Cubans to gain better access to the internet and to a life of economic opportunity and political freedom.
Asked about political prisoners in Cuba, Mr Castro denied it, telling journalists to “give him a list” and then they would be released “tonight”.
“Give me a list of political prisoners and I will release them”, he said.
“I think this is a historic trip, and as you know, this is something I’ve been pushing for for many years”, McGovern told the Herald.
“Actually we find it inconceivable that a government does not defend and ensure the right to healthcare, education, social security, food provision and development”.
On a lighter note, the Cuban president said the former enemies should be inspired by the U.S. endurance swimmer Diana Nyad, who in 2013 managed on her fifth attempt to become the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage.
Obama is scheduled to meet with Cuba’s opposition groups on Tuesday.
Tiant has returned to Cuba only once since leaving in 1961when the US embargo went into effect.
A US presidential visit to the inner sanctum of Cuban power would have been unthinkable before Obama and Raul Castro’s rapprochement 15 months ago, when they agreed to end a Cold War-era dispute that lasted five decades and continued even after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Cubans and Americans both agree, and hope, the meetings will prompt change.
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On Tuesday, he will deliver a speech on live Cuban television and attend an exhibition game between Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays and Cuba’s national team. He said that human rights remained an impediment to the strengthening of ties. The burgeoning relationship between Cuba and the United States will have plenty of curves and sinkers. But the two leaders also found common ground on the topic of the economic embargo on Cuba, which both want lifted.
