Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel says officers held talks with the United States, with the island dealing with an financial disaster and intense pressure from Donald Trump.
The president mentioned the talks with the US have been led by him, alongside with former president Raúl Castro and a few members of his Communist Party, though he didn’t specify who participated on behalf of the United States.
“There are international factors that have facilitated these talks,” Díaz-Canel mentioned in a video broadcast Friday on nationwide tv, describing the function of those talks to “identify the bilateral problems that need a solution.”
In the video, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, nicknamed “El Cangrejo” (The Crab), grandson of Raúl Castro, seems seated behind Díaz-Canel.
Trump himself has mentioned on a number of events that Washington was holding talks with Cuban representatives however that is the first affirmation from Havana. NCS has requested the White House and State Department for remark.
Díaz-Canel mentioned: “This is a very sensitive process that is being approached with responsibility and great sensitivity.”
Following the seize of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a US operation earlier this 12 months, Trump minimize off Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba and threatened to impose tariffs on different nations that bought crude oil to the island. This solely worsened the frequent blackouts and gas shortages dealing with Cubans.
Last week Trump informed NCS Cuba is “is gonna fall pretty soon” and that the authorities desires “to make a deal so badly.”
The Cuban president mentioned the essential scenario dealing with the island “has to do with the energy blockade” imposed by the United States.
“It is a situation for which we have been preparing in advance,” he mentioned, though he emphasised that “no fuel has entered the country for three months.”
“The impact (of the blockade) is tremendous. It is most brutally manifested in these energy issues,” the president mentioned. “This causes anguish among the population,” he acknowledged.
Díaz-Canel mentioned healthcare had been significantly onerous hit. “Right now in the country there are tens of thousands of people waiting for surgery that cannot be performed due to the lack of electricity,” he mentioned.