Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel confirmed this Friday morning that officials from his government had just begun conversations with representatives of Donald Trump’s administration. He insisted that it has been the practice of the Cuban Revolution not to “respond to speculative campaigns on this type of issue.” Until now, despite the fact that Trump himself had let it be known on several occasions that , the Cuban side remained silent, and on occasions they even denied that any type of negotiation was taking place.
Fifteen minutes before the broadcast that had been announced for 7:30 (Havana and Washington time, two less in Mexico and five more in mainland Spain), the official press announced that Díaz-Canel, from the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, in a meeting with members of the Political Bureau, the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, and the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers, said that “these conversations have been aimed at seeking solutions, through dialogue, to the bilateral differences that we have between the two nations.” “There are international factors that have facilitated these exchanges,” he said.
“In the exchanges that have taken place, the Cuban side has expressed the will to carry out this process, on the basis of equality and respect for the political systems of both States, for the sovereignty, and for the self-determination of our governments,” he said.
Trump reacted to the announcement around 10:00. He did it on Truth, his social network. This time it was not one of his hyperbolic messages, but he limited himself to retweeting a newspaper article USA Today, whose headline reads: “Cuba confirms talks with US officials, raising hopes of an agreement.” That same newspaper published information last Sunday that spoke of the imminence of an economic pact, although it did not give more details about its content.
Díaz-Canel’s message has been issued in the middle of a crisis and while Havana remains under increasing pressure from the United States. Hours before this appearance, the Cuban Government announced that it would be through the Vatican. “It is a sovereign practice, no one imposes it on us,” Díaz-Canel said this Friday. “It responds to our humanist vocation.” It is not clear, so far, if the dozens of prisoners to be released include some of the more than 1,000 political prisoners who remain in Cuban prisons. From now on, citizens demand that any agreement with Washington must contemplate amnesty for prisoners of conscience.
Without going into specifics or many more details about the conversations with the White House, the Cuban president said that it is “a very sensitive process, which is conducted with seriousness and responsibility, because it affects the bilateral ties between the two nations and demands enormous and arduous efforts to find a solution and create spaces of understanding, which allow us to move forward and move away from confrontation.”
The speech, which Cubans both inside and outside the country had been waiting for since early Friday, was presented by the Government as a continuation of the appearance on February 5, when Díaz-Canel made it clear that “Cuba is here.” “There are many things we can work on together, without prejudice,” he insisted.
Díaz-Canel also spoke about the attack on a boat of Cuban exiles on February 25, which was thought to unleash the wrath of Washington, but which has resonated with little force in the White House. The attack left the balance of c, who were approaching the coasts of Villa Clara from Florida, and who were attacked by the Cuban Coast Guard. It was an “armed infiltration for terrorist purposes,” “financed from US territories,” the president said. “In the investigations, everyone has acknowledged their participation, that they were the first to shoot at our Coast Guard vessel,” he said. He also assured that the injured have received proper medical attention and that the bodies were recognized by their respective relatives. However, so far several relatives have stated that they have not received any information from the Cuban Government.
The president said that the White House has been informed of the incident, which involved two American citizens. “They have appreciated the information that has been given to them. They have expressed their willingness to participate together in clarifying the facts,” he said. They even let it be known that they are waiting for FBI experts who will participate in the investigations together with the forces of the Cuban Ministry of the Interior.
A call due to lack of fuel
In the live television appearance, Díaz-Canel acknowledged that since January Cuba has not received the oil that previously came from countries like Venezuela and Mexico, after the national emergency declared by Trump, who promised to fine the tariffs of the countries that sent oil to the island. “It has been more than three months since a fuel ship has entered the country. We are working in very adverse conditions, with an immeasurable impact on the lives of all our people,” he said. He also said they were “working on several fronts” to manage the complex situation. “At no time have we renounced our sovereign right to import oil to Cuba,” he insisted.
43 days have passed since the Trump Administration declared a national emergency on the island. Since then, life in the country, which was already precarious, has become much more unsustainable. That pressure is apparently part of the plan that Trump and his Secretary of State have, the Cuban-American Marco Rubio, who has been leading the supposed negotiations for weeks with the heirs of the Castro surname.
Trump, who has been asked for a direct position regarding Cuba after the intervention in Venezuela, promises that the island will see a change before the end of the year. In recent weeks he has insisted almost daily that the island is in its “last moments,” and that it is next on his list. Also, it must first focus on Iran. The unpredictability of the war launched with Israel threatens to slow down the progress of his priorities, but even in the middle of a conflict that is a little more out of control every day, Trump does not forget the island.
The last time he remembered her was last Saturday, during the presentation at his hotel in Doral (Florida) of something called the Shield of the Americas, an alliance of ideologically related Latin American governments to combat drug trafficking. In that forum, the president of the United States, who often links the future of Havana with the personal experience of someone who has lived with “that problem since childhood,” stated that he is “looking forward to the great change that will soon come to Cuba.” In the case of Rubio, it is something personal: the Secretary of State is the son of Cuban immigrants and a product of Miami’s most convinced anti-Castroism.
The first steps seem to have already begun. The permits for the private sector to import oil into Cuba directly from the United States, Rubio’s constant comments about the importance of economic change on the island, and the now release of dozens of prisoners could give indications of what is being addressed in the negotiations between both countries. When in 2014 the then presidents Raúl Castro and Barack Obama announced the reestablishment of diplomatic relations, the thaw came with certain openings for the private sector and the release of 53 prisoners, also through the mediation of the Vatican.
