With Obama by his side, Castro denies the existence of political prisoners in Cuba

Havana: With President Barack Obama by his side, Cuban President Raul Castro on Monday appeared to deny that his country holds any political prisoners. In a sometimes awkward public appearance in which Castro fiddled with his headphones and complained about translation problems, the Cuban president unexpectedly fielded questions from US reporters. “Give me a list of the political prisoners and I will release them immediately,"Castro said when challenged about the Communist island’s human rights record. “After this meeting is over, you can give me a list of political prisoners. And if we have those political prisoners, they will all released before the night ends,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_2689524” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro hold a joint press conference at the Cuban State Council, on March 21, 2016 in Havana, Cuba. Getty Images[/caption] Human rights groups immediately shot back with the names of dozens of prisoners being held in Cuba. Obama’s visit to Cuba, the first by a US president in 88 years, has raised hopes among struggling Cubans that decades of economic and political stasis may be coming to an end. But the detention of dozens of pro-democracy protesters on Sunday and the deployment of a horde of secret police around Old Havana have served as a stark reminder of the regime’s iron grip on power. AFP