Tensions laid bare in joint US-Cuba news conference
Exchanges between the USA and Cuba at an unprecedented joint news conference exposed deep divisions that still remain between the two countries.
President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro prodded each other over issues including human rights and the longstanding US economic embargo, despite relations between the two countries improving rapidly since diplomatic ties were restored in 2014.
On the second day of Obama's historic trip, the first a US president has made in 88 years, the two leaders held a joint news conference, stunning Cubans unaccustomed to their leaders being aggressively questioned.
After responding to a handful of questions, Castro ended the news conference abruptly, declaring, "I think this is enough."
Obama then appeared to lean in to pat Castro on the back. In an awkward moment, the Cuban leader instead grabbed Obama's arm and lifted it up as the U.S. president's wrist dangled, an image that immediately grabbed attention on social media.
Obama, standing in Havana's Palace of the Revolution repeatedly pushed Castro to take steps to address his country's human rights record.
"We continue, as President Castro indicated, to have some very serious differences, including on democracy and human rights," said Obama, who is due to meet with Cuban dissidents on Tuesday.
Castro fired back criticising the American embargo, which he called "the most important obstacle" to his country's economic development.
He also pressed Obama to return the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, which is on the island of Cuba, to his government.
"There are profound differences between our countries that will not go away," Castro said.
Still, Obama heralded a "new day" in the U.S.-Cuba relationship and said "part of normalising relations means we discuss these differences directly."
White House officials spent weeks pushing their Cuban counterparts to agree for the leaders to take questions from reporters after their private meeting, reaching agreement just hours before Obama and Castro appeared before cameras.
Castro appeared agitated at times during the questioning, professing to not understand whether inquiries were directed to him.
But when an American reporter asked about political prisoners in Cuba, he pushed back aggressively, saying if the journalist could offer names of anyone improperly imprisoned, "they will be released before tonight ends."
Cuba released dozens of prisoners as part of its deal to normalize relations with the US, and in a recent report, Amnesty International did not name any current prisoners of conscience in Cuba.