Cuba admits "discreet" progress in bilateral relations with the United States

MADRID, 15 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The President of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, has admitted on Wednesday "discreet" progress in bilateral relations between his administration and the United States, despite the sanctions imposed from Washington.

"Very discreet steps have been taken, aimed at directing bilateral cooperation for compliance with migration agreements and also in other areas of priority between both countries," said the Cuban president, according to the Cuba Debate news portal.

Thus, he highlighted the US initiative for technical advice offered during the fire in the supertanker port of Matanzas, in addition to the material aid accepted due to a hurricane that occurred in September.

"Our objective continues to be to promote broader ties with that country and its people, which already includes close to two million people of Cuban origin or their descendants," he added before emphasizing that the willingness to build a "respectful relationship and mutually beneficial" is known to the United States Government.

However, Díaz-Canel has indicated that the defining characteristic in bilateral relations "continues to be the economic blockade, as a cruel, illegitimate and immoral weapon of coercion", an aspect that hinders "the performance" of the Cuban economy.

"With the support of tens of millions of dollars from the federal budget, (...) the United States guides, finances and even trains individuals to commit violent acts against Cuba," Díaz-Canel criticized when rendering accounts of his management during this year at the Havana Convention Center.

In this sense, he regretted that the national economy "is going through a complex situation, due to the combined effect of the tightening of the blockade, the pandemic and international inflation."

"(These) phenomena have produced a substantial deterioration in the purchasing power of the income of workers and pensioners, as well as the living conditions of the population," he explained.