--- title: Cuban President Denies Country Has Political Prisoners description: Cuban President Raul Castro asked a reporter at a press conference to present a list of prisoners on Monday canonical: https://time.com/4266636/cuba-political-prisoners-castro/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-21T21:36:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:47:59.878Z article:section: Politics og:title: Advocates List Cuba's Political Prisoners After Castro Says There Are None og:description: "What political prisoners?" og:url: https://time.com/4266636/cuba-political-prisoners-castro/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c75ac228798bacd/69888bdf0b72e3befd6e89e4/516833986.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: President Obama Meets With Cuban President Raul Castro In Havana og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Advocates List Cuba's Political Prisoners After Castro Says There Are None twitter:description: "What political prisoners?" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c75ac228798bacd/69888bdf0b72e3befd6e89e4/516833986.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Advocates List Cuba's Political Prisoners After Castro Says There Are None > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=dec6a787-a4de-44c2-9d5d-99a1ac82cada&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Inside Obama's Historic Trip to Cuba [Watch (HLS stream): Inside Obama's Historic Trip to Cuba](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/AXTKJkWy.m3u8) (3:07)  _Published 2016-03-21_ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 21, 2016 9:36 PM UTC  U.S. President Barack Obama (R) and Cuban President Raul Castro pose for photographs after greeting one another at the Palace of the Revolution March 21, 2016 in Havana, Cuba. The first sitting U.S. president to visit Cuba in 88 years, Obama and Castro will sit down for bilateral talks and will deliver joint statements to the news media. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images U.S. President Barack Obama (R) and Cuban President Raul Castro pose for photographs after greeting one another at the Palace of the Revolution March 21, 2016 in Havana, Cuba. The first sitting U.S. president to visit Cuba in 88 years, Obama and Castro will sit down for bilateral talks and will deliver joint statements to the news media. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 21, 2016 9:36 PM UTC During a brief joint press conference between President Barack Obama and President Raul Castro, CNN correspondent Jim Acosta asked the Cuban leader why his regime held political prisoners. In response, the Cuban leader denied holding prisoners and asked Acosta, whose father immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba in the 1960s, to provide him with a list. If he could, Castro said dismissively, he would release them today. “What political prisoners? Give me a name or names,” Castro said. Soon after the statements, several [reporters ](https://twitter.com/jbendery/status/711993738323759104)took to social media to share lists several international and Cuban human rights groups have already published naming the political prisoners that remain in detention. On March 19, the [Victims of Communism](http://blog.victimsofcommunism.org/cubs-forgotten-51-prisoners-of-conscience/) Memorial Foundation released a list of 51 “prisoners of conscience,” some of whom they say have been jailed for over two decades for questioning or speaking out against the Cuban government. The list of all 51 names is published in full on their [blog](http://blog.victimsofcommunism.org/cubs-forgotten-51-prisoners-of-conscience/). In a conversation with TIME on Monday, Marion Smith, the executive director of the foundation, called Castro’s statements “laughable.” He also said there are likely a “couple hundred” political prisoners, though his organization has named 51. “Nobody seriously thinks that there are not political prisoners in Cuba,” Smith said. “Just laughable that Raul Castro will ask for a list. There are many lists being circulated.” Smith said hopefully Castro will see the list of names and release them as he said he would during the press conference. In July another group, [_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-prisoners-idUSKBN0OZ26H20150619) reported the Cuban Commission of Human Rights and National Reconciliation, accused the government of holding 60 prisoners even after the publicized release of 53\. The[ Human Rights Watch 2014 world report](https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2014/country-chapters/cuba) shows although the Cuban government has taken steps to reduce the number of long-term detentions and has released some prisoners, the regime still conducts arbitrary detention, public acts of shaming and deploys a range of tactics to punish political dissenters. Smith said dissidents often experience a cycle of “arrest, arbitrary imprisonment, release” and harassment. President Obama is scheduled to meet with members of Cuban civil society, including some dissidents. ## Transcript [ BLANK_AUDIO ] It's been nearly 90 years since a US president stepped foot in Cuba. It is wonderful to be here. Back in 1928, President Coolidge came on a battleship. It took him three days to get here. It only took me three hours. [ LAUGH ] For the first time ever, Air Force One has landed in Cuba and this is Our very first stop. So, this is a historic visit, and it is a historic opportunity to engage directly with Cuban people. In the fortune agreements and commercial deals, to build new ties between our two people's and for me to lay out our vision for the future that is brighter than our past. 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