A contingent of 40 members of Colombia’s FARC rebels including their leader Rodrigo Londono were at a baseball game in Havana on Tuesday that was also attended by U.S. President Barack Obama at the end of his historic trip to the Communist-led island.
FARC negotiator Pastor Alape confirmed their attendance and said the game between the Tampa Bay Rays and a Cuban team was a “symbol of peace.” A Reuters witness also spotted the rebels there.
The representatives of the Marxist-led Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia are in Cuba for peace talks with the Colombian government.
U.S. Secretary of John Kerry met on Monday with the FARC negotiators and the team representing the Colombian government at the talks.
INJO: During an occasionally awkward press conference this afternoon in Havana, Cuban President Raoul Castro was flummoxed by questions about human rights.
Asked by CNN’s Jim Acosta why Cuba has political prisoners, Castro appeared indignant:
“Give me a list and I’ll release them,” said Castro, adding, “If we have those political prisoners they will be released before tonight ends.”
Many journalists and human rights’ advocates quickly tweeted lists of dozens of prisoner names.
Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation says it has a list of “Forgotten 51” political prisoners in Cuba. pic.twitter.com/xv0B4aY0gz
Later in the press conference, which took place after President Obama met privately with Castro to discuss matters, such as human rights, NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell again took a stab at getting Castro to talk about dissidents.
Castro deflected, pointing instead to issues he feels his country does well, like healthcare and education and equal pay—claiming those were more important than human rights.
He argued that not only does he not know of any political prisoners, he didn’t like the idea that an American journalist would broach the topic:
“It’s not right to ask me about political prisoners in general, please give me the name of a political prisoner.”
Shortly thereafter, the press conference came to an end, with this awkward misstep. Castro went for the hand-hold; Obama went for the the back slap.
ChicagoTribune in part: Capping his remarkable visit to Cuba, President Barack Obama on Tuesday declared an end to the “last remnant of the Cold War in the Americas” and openly urged the Cuban people to pursue a more democratic future for this communist nation 90 miles from Miami.
With Cuban President Raul Castro watching from a balcony, Obama said the government should not fear citizens who speak freely and vote for their own leaders. And with Cubans watching on tightly controlled state television, Obama said they would be the ones to determine their country’s future, not the United States.
“Many suggested that I come here and ask the people of Cuba to tear something down,” Obama said. “But I’m appealing to the young people of Cuba who will lift something up, build something new.”
On the streets of Havana, the president’s address sparked extraordinarily rare public discussions about democracy, and some anger with Cuba’s leaders. Cubans are used to complaining bitterly about economic matters but rarely speak publicly about any desire for political change, particularly in conversations with foreign journalists.
