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| Raúl Castro, Obama spar on human rights, Guantanamo, views of U.S. and Cuba | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| HAVANA —In an extraordinary news conference Monday afternoon, President Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro sparred over human rights, Guantánamo and their starkly different views of their own countries and the world, even as both hailed Obama’s historic visit here as a successful new step in normalizing relations. | |
| The event was at times a jarring juxtoposition of diplomatic formality and public jousting, as questions from American reporters sparked abrupt reactions from Castro, who either ignored them or dismissed them as misguided, challenging one reporter to “give me names” of alleged political prisoners here. | |
| For his part, Obama seemed to relish the opportunity to display his comfort in discussing both the things they agreed on, and those they did not. The public exchange was virtually unprecedented in Cuba. | |
| Appearing together after a closed-door meeting on the first full day of Obama’s historic visit to Cuba, the two leaders began with magnanimous opening statements. Their work together “benefits not only Cuba and the United States, but the entire hemisphere,” Castro said in an opening statement. | |
| Obama responded that “it’s fair to say that the United States and Cuba are now engaged across more areas than at any time in my lifetime.” Quoting Castro’s own words, he acknowledged that “the road ahead will not be easy. Fortunately, we don’t have to swim with sharks to achieve the goals that you and I have set forth.” | |
| But their differences were clear. Obama said he had spoken “frankly” to Castro about human rights, free expression and democracy in their two-hour meeting before they emerged to make public statements. “Our starting point is that we have two very different systems . . . and decades of profound disagreement.” While the United States would continue to speak its mind, he said, it would not seek to impose its system on Cuba. | |
| Castro called on the United States to abandon the territory it occupies with a military base at Guantánamo Bay, on Cuba’s southwestern tip, and to lift the U.S. embargo against Cuba. He said relations would never be fully normal until both were accomplished. | |
| “We recognize the position President Obama is in, and the position his government holds against the blockade,” as Cuba calls the embargo, “and that they have called on Congress to lift it.” | |
| At the same time, he said, the two countries have “profound differences that will not disappear overnight over our political model, democracy, human rights, social justice, international relations, peace and stability.” | |
| In what appeared to be an angry response to a question about political prisoners here, posed by CNN correspondent Jim Acosta, whose father emigrated from Cuba, Castro said, “If there are political prisoners, give me a list, right now. What political prisoners?” | |
| “Give me their names, and if there are political prisoners, they will be free by tonight,” he added. | |
| While human rights activists say several dozen people are being held in Cuban prisons for political offenses, Cuba maintains that those said to be political prisoners have been convicted of common crimes. | |
| The issue of whether the Cubans would allow questions at the Castro-Obama joint appearance — U.S. officials said no agreement was reached on the matter beforehand — was left open until the last minute. Castro told reporters he had agreed that Obama could take two questions, and he would take one. | |
| The exchanges highlighted Obama’s comfort in responding to critical media questions, and Castro’s clear discomfort. After Obama finished a lengthy response to a question to both, he turned to Castro, who had taken off his earphones for translation and was talking to an aide. | |
| Obama winked at the audience and gestured to the Cuban leader. “Sounded like a question to you?” Obama said. He reminded Castro that he had been asked whether he would vote for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. “I can’t vote in the United States,” Castro responded abruptly. | |
| Speaking of human rights in Cuba, Castro countered by asking “how many countries in the world” have signed every international agreement on the subject and complied with them. Cuba, he said, was like other countries and had signed some but not others. | |
| But Cuba, he said, complied with “the most sacred rights” of all — universal health care and education. | |
| “There are many countries that don’t consider them human rights at all,” he said. In Cuba “every child is born in a hospital, and those who live far away are brought to the hospital days before delivery . . . even those that live on top of mountains.” | |
| In a clear dig at the United States, he also cited those countries that “believe that for equal work, a man makes more than a woman simply because she’s a woman.” He added, “Women here earn as much as men for the same work.” | |
| [Here’s why Obama didn’t meet Fidel Castro in Cuba] | [Here’s why Obama didn’t meet Fidel Castro in Cuba] |
| Obama began his opening statement by saying that “for more than half a century, the sight of an American president in Havana would have been unimaginable. But this is a new day. Un nuevo dia.” | |
| There is “one overarching goal” to normalization, Obama said, “advancing the interests . . . of both Cubans and Americans. That’s why I’m here.” | There is “one overarching goal” to normalization, Obama said, “advancing the interests . . . of both Cubans and Americans. That’s why I’m here.” |
| Both presidents spoke of progress they had made with new travel, agricultural and business agreements, as well as partnerships on health, education and the environment. | |
| [Obama’s goal: ‘Support’ for Cubans seeking new paths] | [Obama’s goal: ‘Support’ for Cubans seeking new paths] |
| Earlier in the day the Cubans rolled out full military honors for Obama in an official arrival ceremony, a display perhaps warranted by Castro’s long history as minister of defense from the 1959 revolution until he took over the presidency from his brother, Fidel Castro, in 2008. | |
| Obama, who toured Havana’s restored colonial center after his arrival Sunday night, stopped first on Monday at the Plaza of the Revolution, where he laid a wreath at the massive statue of 19th century Cuban independence hero Jose Martí, who gazes pensively down at the place where Fidel Castro for years delivered stem-winding speeches denouncing U.S. imperialism. | |
| He was accompanied at the plaza by Cuban Vice President Salvador Mesa, who fought in the revolution and against U.S.-backed exile forces defeated in the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion. The two stood at attention as a military band played the Cuban and U.S. national anthems. | |
| Immediately after the wreath-laying, Obama was mobbed by Cuban and U.S. television reporters standing in the plaza. He smiled and winked and began walking, through a stiff breeze under cloudy tropical skies, to the nearby palace. | Immediately after the wreath-laying, Obama was mobbed by Cuban and U.S. television reporters standing in the plaza. He smiled and winked and began walking, through a stiff breeze under cloudy tropical skies, to the nearby palace. |
| Secretary of State John F. Kerry, hovering outside the media scrum, pronounced the trip “great” and the wreath-laying a “historic moment.” It was “pretty remarkable,” he said, “to hear the anthems here, side by side, in Havana with the president of the United States.” | Secretary of State John F. Kerry, hovering outside the media scrum, pronounced the trip “great” and the wreath-laying a “historic moment.” It was “pretty remarkable,” he said, “to hear the anthems here, side by side, in Havana with the president of the United States.” |
| At the palace, Obama first signed a guest book. “It was a great honor to pay tribute to José Martí, who gave his life for the independence of his homeland,” he wrote. “His passion for liberty, freedom and self-determination lives on in the Cuban people today.” | At the palace, Obama first signed a guest book. “It was a great honor to pay tribute to José Martí, who gave his life for the independence of his homeland,” he wrote. “His passion for liberty, freedom and self-determination lives on in the Cuban people today.” |
| In the central hall of the palace, he was greeted by Castro, and the two smiled and shook hands warmly. It is was the fourth meeting between the leaders, who first greeted each other at the 2013 funeral of Nelson Mandela in South Africa. Following their December 2014 announcement that relations would be reestablished, they held a bilateral meeting last April at the Summit of the Americans, and again at the United Nations in September. | |
| [Watch: Obama’s Cuban agenda] | [Watch: Obama’s Cuban agenda] |
| After they walked past a military honor guard and listened again to the national anthems, Obama introduced Castro to a line of U.S. officials accompanying him, including Kerry, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, national security adviser Susan E. Rice, deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes and White House press secretary Josh Earnest. | After they walked past a military honor guard and listened again to the national anthems, Obama introduced Castro to a line of U.S. officials accompanying him, including Kerry, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, national security adviser Susan E. Rice, deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes and White House press secretary Josh Earnest. |
| Castro then did the same for Obama with a line of Cuban officials, ending with Gustavo Machin, the deputy head of the Americas section of the Foreign Ministry. In 2002, Machin, a diplomat at the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, was among six Cubans expelled from the United States after a Cuban spy was arrested inside the Defense Department. | Castro then did the same for Obama with a line of Cuban officials, ending with Gustavo Machin, the deputy head of the Americas section of the Foreign Ministry. In 2002, Machin, a diplomat at the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, was among six Cubans expelled from the United States after a Cuban spy was arrested inside the Defense Department. |
| Obama and Castro then headed to a palm-filled meeting room, where they engaged in animated chatter, through an interpreter, before the doors were closed. | Obama and Castro then headed to a palm-filled meeting room, where they engaged in animated chatter, through an interpreter, before the doors were closed. |
| In the evening Monday, Obama will return to the palace for a state dinner hosted by Castro. | In the evening Monday, Obama will return to the palace for a state dinner hosted by Castro. |
| First lady Michelle Obama, with an itinerary separate from the president’s, held a public forum Monday morning on the educational system here with 10 Cuban students. | First lady Michelle Obama, with an itinerary separate from the president’s, held a public forum Monday morning on the educational system here with 10 Cuban students. |
| Meanwhile, Major League Baseball took full advantage of the opportunity to recruit new Cuban players here by holding a news conference and a training session with Cuban youth players in advance of Tuesday’s game between the Cuban national team and the Tampa Bay Rays. Obama plans to attend the game before his departure later in the day to Argentina. | Meanwhile, Major League Baseball took full advantage of the opportunity to recruit new Cuban players here by holding a news conference and a training session with Cuban youth players in advance of Tuesday’s game between the Cuban national team and the Tampa Bay Rays. Obama plans to attend the game before his departure later in the day to Argentina. |
| Obama’s schedule Monday took him into the heart of Cuban government power, where no U.S. president has been before. Although the Martí monument predates the revolution, it is in a place as central to modern Cuban history as Moscow’s Red Square is to Russia’s. Over the decades, Soviet tanks and missiles have rolled through during military parades, past the giant murals of fallen revolutionary heroes Ernesto “Che” Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos that Obama walked beneath Monday. | Obama’s schedule Monday took him into the heart of Cuban government power, where no U.S. president has been before. Although the Martí monument predates the revolution, it is in a place as central to modern Cuban history as Moscow’s Red Square is to Russia’s. Over the decades, Soviet tanks and missiles have rolled through during military parades, past the giant murals of fallen revolutionary heroes Ernesto “Che” Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos that Obama walked beneath Monday. |
| The Revolutionary Palace, where the Cuban president’s offices are located, was almost surely targeted for annihilation during the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, and long after that. | The Revolutionary Palace, where the Cuban president’s offices are located, was almost surely targeted for annihilation during the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, and long after that. |
| [Obama’s entourage has business in mind] | [Obama’s entourage has business in mind] |
| Later Monday, Obama will participate in a meeting between U.S. business and Cuban entrepreneurs, held at a cavernous beer brewery along the waterfront of Havana Bay. | Later Monday, Obama will participate in a meeting between U.S. business and Cuban entrepreneurs, held at a cavernous beer brewery along the waterfront of Havana Bay. |
| The place has a clear view of the former Texaco oil refinery, nationalized by the Castro government when its managers refused to process the first shipments of Soviet crude in 1960, setting off a tit-for-tat that ended with the 1960 U.S. embargo that Obama now seeks to lift. | The place has a clear view of the former Texaco oil refinery, nationalized by the Castro government when its managers refused to process the first shipments of Soviet crude in 1960, setting off a tit-for-tat that ended with the 1960 U.S. embargo that Obama now seeks to lift. |
| It was there, in Havana Harbor, where the USS Maine exploded in 1898, launching an American invasion of Spanish-occupied Cuba and the Spanish-American War that briefly turned the island into a U.S. possession. | It was there, in Havana Harbor, where the USS Maine exploded in 1898, launching an American invasion of Spanish-occupied Cuba and the Spanish-American War that briefly turned the island into a U.S. possession. |
| As a result, land at Guantanamo Bay that was captured by U.S. forces from Spain was turned into an American naval base and was leased to the United States by Cuba in perpetuity. The U.S. Navy has remained at Guantanamo ever since, and the base has become the site of a prison for detainees in the war on terrorism. | As a result, land at Guantanamo Bay that was captured by U.S. forces from Spain was turned into an American naval base and was leased to the United States by Cuba in perpetuity. The U.S. Navy has remained at Guantanamo ever since, and the base has become the site of a prison for detainees in the war on terrorism. |
| Nick Miroff in Havana contributed to this report. | Nick Miroff in Havana contributed to this report. |
| Read more: | Read more: |
| Cuban Americans are split on the value of Obama’s trip to Havana | Cuban Americans are split on the value of Obama’s trip to Havana |
| Obama tries comedy to woo Cuban people | Obama tries comedy to woo Cuban people |
| The Cuba Obama will see is changing, but much remains the same | The Cuba Obama will see is changing, but much remains the same |
| Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world | Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world |