Do we believe President Obama’s take on the recent “normalization” deal he struck, or do we believe his like-minded counterpart, Raul Castro, considering his and his brother’s long history of lying to the world?
Cuban thug Raul Castro said:
We shouldn’t expect that in order for relations to improve with the United States, Cuba is renouncing the ideas for which we have fought for more than a century and for which our people have spilled so much blood and run such great risks.
White House spokesman Eric Schultz told the Miami Herald that the Castro regime did release Cuban prisoners that they “specifically requested,” and that the President was “flexible” when he negotiated with Castro:
I think its fair to report that there was significant progress here (regarding) the political prisoners – they released a large (number of prisoners) that we specifically requested… The president has always been flexible on specifics (regarding) negotiations and clear there would be some give and take.
So, what guarantees did Obama secure about prisoner release? What proof did Castro offer him that the political prisoners were actually released?
Here is Obama’s statement about what he expects from the Castro regime. Notice how he mentions the release of all political prisoners as being the first step towards “normalization” of relations with the Cuban regime:
I will maintain the embargo. It provides us with the leverage to present the regime with a clear choice: If you take significant steps toward democracy, beginning with the freeing of all political prisoners, we will take steps to begin normalizing relations.
Now let’s go back to what Obama’s spokesman Eric Schultz said. Schultz said that Castro “released a large” number of prisoners that the administration “specifically requested.” Is a “large” amount of released political prisoners the same as all political prisoners being released from prison? I think not.
So who do we believe, Obama or Castro?