Politics

Obama Refuses To Follow Up On Castro’s Pledge To Release Political Prisoners [VIDEO]

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Derek Hunter Contributor
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At a joint press conference Monday with President Barack Obama, Cuban dictator Raul Castro was asked about political prisoners being held by his government. Castro responded that if the reporter, CNN’s Jim Acosta, provided him a list and “if there are political prisoners then, before night falls, they will be free.”

When asked later in the day by ABC News anchor David Muir if he would provide Castro with a list of political prisoners to call the dictator’s public bluff, Obama refused.

“The truth of the matter is, we’ve given him lists in the past,” the president said, “and they have responded intermittently to our engagement. And this, I think, is an example of why it was my belief that 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.”

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