Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said negotiations with the United States have hit a wall with no breakthrough in sight toward lifting sanctions on the Caribbean island nation.
“The talks between the Cuban government and the U.S. government have not shown any progress,” Rodriguez said at a press conference on Tuesday.
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He continued to reflect on ongoing negotiations with the government of US President Donald Trump, which has increased pressure on the Caribbean islands since returning to power for a second term.
“The actions of the U.S. government delegation have been generally respectful and have been accompanied by constant threats against Cuba, the application of coercive measures, and aggressive statements regarding our independence,” Rodriguez said.
Since the 1960s, the United States has imposed a total embargo on Cuba as part of a long-running conflict with Cuba’s communist leadership.
However, President Trump has expressed a desire for regime change in Cuba, and in January he threatened to impose tariffs on countries that supply fuel to Cuba, effectively cutting off foreign oil supplies to Cuba.
President Trump is also mulling the possibility of taking military action against Cuba once the war with Iran ends.
Cuban officials confirmed in March that they were in talks with the Trump administration, but details of those negotiations have not been confirmed.
Shortly after, reports emerged that President Trump was seeking the resignation of Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, but the Cuban government publicly rejected such a request.
Rodriguez said on Tuesday that despite the impasse, Havana “remains open to dialogue.”
He also accused the United States of trying to cancel a debate scheduled for July 7 at the United Nations General Assembly to discuss U.S. sanctions.
Almost every year, the United Nations overwhelmingly supports symbolic resolutions calling on the United States to end its record-setting embargo on Cuba’s economy.
Rodriguez said he called the July 7 meeting out of concern about rising tensions with the United States.
“This is urgent because the U.S. government’s multifaceted invasion of Cuba is already underway and is escalating,” Rodriguez said.
He also warned that the US State Department was “pressuring and threatening” UN member states not to participate in the discussions.
Since the Trump administration launched a pressure campaign this year, Cuba has taken steps to address long-standing human rights problems plaguing the government.
For example, in April the government pardoned 2,010 prisoners in a so-called “humanitarian measure,” but critics pointed out that the releases did not include political dissidents imprisoned for “crimes against authority.”
And earlier this month, Cuba’s Communist Party approved several free market reforms as part of its emergency economic package.
These reforms included expanding opportunities for private business and foreign investment in Cuba and measures to loosen the government’s grip on the economy.
Despite unprecedented economic reforms, Cuba declared its political model to be non-controversial and pledged to resist any U.S. aggression.
It also denounced the U.S. oil blockade and other sanctions as a form of collective punishment.
Cuba’s aging energy grid relies heavily on fossil fuel products from abroad. But since January, that supply has all but ceased, with only one Russian oil tanker arriving on the island in March.
The resulting fuel shortages compound repeated power outages, which can last up to 40 hours at a time. Public transport has stopped in some areas and hospitals are struggling to get electricity flowing.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Rodriguez blamed U.S. sanctions for “killing people” in Cuba.
His comments echoed the concerns of top humanitarian officials, including Turkey’s UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Volker.
He pointed to statistics showing the infant mortality rate has nearly doubled in the last week to 9.9 deaths per 1,000 live births.
“Children are dying because doctors cannot access essential medical supplies and medicines. This is unacceptable,” Turk said in a statement. “These sanctions must be lifted immediately.”
Still, President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American, continue to increase pressure on the island.
In early June, the United States imposed sanctions on President Díaz-Canel, his wife and stepson, and the son and grandson of former President Raul Castro, brother of the late former leader Fidel Castro.
Last month, the Trump administration also issued an arrest warrant for Castro, accusing him of being involved in the 1996 shooting down of two activist planes, which killed four people.
The United States also recently imposed sanctions on the island’s state-run oil and gas company, Union Cuba Petroleo.
In a statement, Rubio, who is hawkish against the Cuban government, blamed mismanagement in Havana for the island’s worsening humanitarian crisis.
“Decades of underinvestment in critical infrastructure have left Cubans suffering fuel shortages and power outages, while Cuba’s communist leaders have diverted energy resources to line their own pockets,” Rubio wrote.
Almost five months have passed since the island was placed under a fuel blockade by the United States.
