Obama and Castro talked up a new era in US-Cuba relations Monday, but two cultures, two political systems and two generations collided spectacularly during a sometimes testy and frequently awkward joint appearance.
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After the meeting, Obama also participated in a business forum with Cuban entrepreneurs, USA businessmen and representatives from Cuban state companies where he said he would continue working to adopt changes that would improve and increase access to internet on the island. “And if we have those political prisoners, they will be released before tonight ends”.
Asked by a United States journalist about the fate of political prisoners, Castro responded angrily that there were no such prisoners. “And if there are those political prisoners before the end of the night they’ll be free”.
While human rights activists say several dozen people are serving long prison sentences here for alleged political offenses, Cuba maintains that those said to be political prisoners have been convicted of common crimes.
For the first time in 88 years, a U-S President is visiting Cuba.
“You are asking me too many questions”, Castro half-joked.
Mr Obama then appeared to lean in to pat Mr Castro on the back.
He and his family, who accompanied him on the trip, will join Castro at a Major League Baseball exhibition game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban National Team.
Obama was welcomed by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, accompanied by Josefina Vidal, head of the US Department at the Cuban Foreign Ministry, and Jose Ramon Cabañas, Cuban ambassador to Washington.
Obama and Castro will have their fourth meeting, likely their most substantial, at the Palace of the Revolution, where Castro and his predecessor, older brother Fidel Castro, have led Cuba’s resistance to USA pressure going back decades. But the dissident Cuban Commission of Human Rights and National Reconciliation says 79 are still behind bars, among them more than 40 held for peaceful political protest.
The White House said it had shared many such lists with the Cuban government before.
President Obama arrived in a country still waiting to exhale.
Nieto took a break during the busy lunch hour to discuss why he is not applauding President Obama’s visit to Cuba.
“To the extent that we can have a good conversation about that and to actually make progress, that I think will allow us to see the full flowering of a relationship that is possible”, Mr. Obama said.
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Castro was asked by an American reporter whether he favored the election of Republican front-runner Donald Trump or likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. “When, I can’t be entirely sure”, Obama said.
