“I don’t think Obama’s visit will have an immediate impact on Cuban politics, much less on the near-term decisions of the regime”, Shifter said. “And if there are those political prisoners before the end of the night they’ll be free”.
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Castro testily addressed Acosta directly, saying “After this meeting is over, you can give me a list of political prisoners, and if we have those political prisoners, they will be released before tonight ends”. Human rights organizations estimated there were more than 65,000 prisoners and detainees.
While the issue of political prisoners is hugely important to Cuban-Americans and the global community, most people on the island are more concerned about the shortage of goods and their struggles with local bureaucracy. “Political prisoners also reported being threatened or harassed by fellow inmates whom they believed were acting on orders of prison authorities”, the website added.
“In the absence of that, I think it will continue to be a very powerful irritant”, Obama said in a joint news conference with Castro that began with jokes but was tense at times. Obama and top USA officials warmly greeted their Cuban counterparts before the two presidents sat down for their meeting.
Obama is likely to make the case that forcing Cuba to open up diplomatically, as well as a gradual relaxation of the embargo, will promote democratic change. “It is a great honor to pay tribute to Jose Marti, who gave his life for independence of his homeland”.
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”.
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Since succeeding his brother Fidel in 2008, Castro has orchestrated economic and social reforms with broad-based impact, though to many Cubans and foreigners, they appear slow to materialize. The palace was built after the 1959 revolution that turned Cuba into a communist state. The visit follows the president’s December 17, 2014, announcement that the USA would pursue a rapprochement with… It is something he said he could never have done while in Cuba. “We believe that freedom of speech and freedom of assembly and freedom of religion are not just American values but are universal values”, he said. Suffice it to say those who anxious America might be made to look foolish by sib-dictator Castro today have had their expectations exceeded. His government has also repeatedly chided Obama for saying he wanted to empower Cubans.
