“Give me the list now of political prisoners to release, Castro said, responding testily to Acosta”.
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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.
Castro argued against comparing nation’s on human rights records generally, citing Cuba’s record on other significant issues like universal healthcare and education as superior to other nations – namely critiquing the USA for failing to ensure equal pay for equal work regardless of gender.
“I actually welcome President Castro commenting on some of the areas where he feels we’re falling short”, Obama said. “There!” said the dictator. During the visit, President Obama will appear with Cuba’s president, Raul Castro, at a state dinner and a press conference on trade.
“As the first United States company with scale to move money from across the world to Cuba, we welcome the regulatory and policy changes put in place by the U.S. government that allow us to offer these services”, Odilon Almeida, president of the Americas and European Union at Western Union in a statement.
It’s extremely rare for Castro to hold a news conference, though he sometimes takes questions from reporters spontaneously when the mood strikes.
Rodiles says activists were protesting peacefully when they were arrested, and the police never gave him an explanation as to why. It became possible after secret talks led to a 2014 agreement to normalise relations between the two Cold War-era foes.
The Cuban president abruptly ended the press conference after Obama persuaded him to answer a second question from a reporter, saying “I think this is enough” and pulling off his headset used for translation.
For the first time in 88 years, a sitting U.S. President has visited Cuba. President Barack Obama, center, first lady Michelle Obama greet children and families of Embassy personnel during an event at Melia Habana Hotel, in Havana, Cuba, Sunday, March 20, 2016.
As Air Force One landed in Havana, Obama cheerfully began the landmark trip by tweeting in local slang: “Que bola Cuba?” or “What’s up?”
Earlier in the day, Obama laid a wreath at the Jose Marti Memorial, which is dedicated to a Cuban revolutionary hero.
On Tuesday, Mr Obama will take that message directly to Cubans, in a speech that is expected to be broadcast live across the country. Some also marveled at tough questioning of President Barack Obama, simply unaccustomed to seeing any leader challenged in such a way.
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Ahead of his meeting with Mr Castro, Obama announced a deal that Google had reached with the island.
