US-Cuba relations ‘moving forward’ despite deep divisions

By Joanna Gill.

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By Joanna Gill

Barack Obama’s trip to Havana has been a checklist of firsts, and day two racked up another historic moment. After meeting President Raul Castro, Obama held talks with his Cuban counterpart before meeting the press.

Obama remained deliberately vague on what progress was made during their discussions.

“President Castro, you said in Panama that we might disagree on something today on which we would agree tomorrow. And that has certainly been the case over the past 15 months and the days leading up to this visit. And today, I can report that we continue to move forward on many fronts when it comes to normalizing relations.”

The unprecedented and at times awkward press conference marked a departure from the norm for Castro, unaccustomed to answering questions from the US media.

When a reporter grilled him on political prisoners Castro was clearly flustered saying,

‘Give me the list right now of those political prisoners in order to release them from prison. Give it to me right now. What political prisoners? Give me the name or their names. When the meeting is over give me the list with their names. And if there are those political prisoners before the end of the night they’ll be free.”

Castro took the opportunity to decry America’s lack of universal healthcare. While Obama admitted the US had shortcomings, he also defended what he called the ‘universal desire’ for democracy. On the two biggest sticking points, the economy and human rights, neither leader appeared to give any ground.


[euronews]