President Obama said Monday that he won’t give the Cuban government a list of political prisoners to release after President Raul Castro demanded such a list during a joint press conference with Obama.
“The truth of the matter is we’ve given him lists in the past, and they have responded intermittently to our engagement,” Obama told ABC’s David Muir in an interview set to air on “World News Tonight.”
Obama cited the Castro regime’s inconsistent response to U.S. demands on human rights and the release of political prisoners as a reason for his new rapprochement with the Cuban government.
“And this is an example of why, it was my belief this would be a more successful mechanism for us to advance the values that we care about than an embargo and silence and no communications,” Obama told ABC News in an excerpt released before the full interview aired.
During the joint press conference, Castro appeared to deny that his government has imprisoned dissidents in response to a question from CNN.
“What political prisoners?” Castro asked. “Give me a name or names. After this meeting is over … and they will be released before tonight ends.”
In the same ABC News interview later Monday, Obama called the Cuban government harassment of dissidents a “chilling strategy” and said “heavy-headed tactics” are “self-defeating,” according to a tweet from ABC News’ Kirit Radia.
Obama also said he’d be happy to meet former longtime President Fidel Castro to close the chapter on the Cold War era, according to Radia’s tweets.
In an earlier interview with Muir that aired Monday morning, Obama said expanding Internet access for Cubans is critical to changing the country.
“One of the things that we’ll be announcing here is that Google has a deal to start setting up more WI-FI access and broadband access on the island,” Obama said. “Change is going to happen here, and I think Raul Castro understands that.”
Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, announced Monday that it would provide free Internet access on the island, along with laptops and virtual-reality headsets. Right now only a sliver of the Cuban people have Internet access.
The Internet connection will still come through the government, and access will be provided through state-owned telecom firm Etecsa. Obama did not say whether the government would censor content and block access to some online sites.
U.S. and Cuban business leaders met with Obama later Monday to discuss the new push to build economic ties between the two countries. Airbnb, a company set to book U.S. travelers who want to rent a room with a local family in Cuba, helped organize the meeting. The company was founded in April 2015, and U.S. travelers planning to visit Cuba is its fastest growing market.
All U.S. travelers headed to Cuba must be visiting for one of 12 approved reasons outlined by the federal law. Obama has eased licensing rules for approved travel as part of the diplomatic and economic thaw.
On Monday, Carnival Corporation, the world’s largest leisure travel company, said Cuba has approved the first cruise line tours to Cuba in 50 years. Starting on May 1, Carnival will operate a 704-passenger ship MV Adonia to Cuba through its newest brand Fathom.
Western Union Co. on Monday said it would expand operations in Cuba, a move made possible by the Obama administration’s efforts to loosen regulations on financial transactions.
