Havana/New Special Period? Another Sorting Task? The “reorganization process that we have planned (…) and have been preparing has not yet been named. It is not something simple, it is something difficult for the Government’s management and it is something very difficult for the population as a whole.” This is the message that the Cuban regime is transmitting to the international media through one of its minor spokespersons, Vice Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío.
In an interview with EFE, the number two of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs denies again the statements of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, about the existence of a dialogue between the two countries. However, he clarifies by saying that messages have been “exchanged” since the capture of the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, on January 3.
In any case, “the United States Government knows perfectly well what Cuba’s position is in terms of its willingness to hold a dialogue and has not rejected it,” adds the diplomat, who also denies that there could be indirect contacts through intermediaries such as Mexico or the Vatican.
The official insisted that, in addition to ruling out political and economic reforms, the release of prisoners cannot be “part of the bilateral dialogue between two countries.”
The official insisted that, in addition to ruling out political and economic reforms, the release of prisoners – there are around a thousand political prisoners in Cuba – cannot be “part of the bilateral dialogue between two countries,” unlike what is happening in Venezuela.
Fernández de Cossío has categorically rejected in the interview the mere possibility that there is a “traitor” to the regime, as, according to diary sources Wall Street Journal, The United States is looking for it in a manner analogous to what happened in Venezuela. “If one is thinking that there is fractionation within the Cuban Government, fractionation within the political forces in Cuba, and a willingness of a small group to give up the sovereign rights of Cuba – the prerogative of our country – and to give in to the pressure, the aggressiveness of the United States, unjustified and immoral,… it is a wrong interpretation,” he asserted.
The statement is in line with what was stated this week by the Russian ambassador to the UN, Vasili Nebenzia, – “That little trick will not work in Cuba,” he said –, but also by what some US officials pointed out in response to the information. Ricardo Zúñiga, a former key US official in the thaw who has also worked with the Trump Administration, told the outlet: “These guys are much tougher to crack. No one would be tempted to collaborate with the United States.”
The vice chancellor, on the contrary, affirms that the Island is “preparing for defense”, to “resist military aggression” and considers that the Government’s responsibility is to defend the population “as Cubans, not as subjects of the United States.”
“The Government of the United States must know that military aggression against Cuba is not easy, despite the absolutely asymmetrical superiority that the United States has over Cuba (…). But they would have to ask themselves what the goal is. Bomb and destroy Cuba, and leave everything in a desolate land, or try to put soldiers in Cuba and develop a war here against the Cuban people,” he warned.
Fernández de Cossío maintained that Havana’s objective is for Washington to “understand the danger of extreme military action on the Island”
Fernández de Cossío maintained that Havana’s objective is for Washington to “understand the danger of extreme military action on the Island” and “not pay attention to any of the politicians who have made a career and have profited through hostile conduct against Cuba.”
However, the message of resistance seems more intended for the population than for Washington, since the Government announces more sacrifices for Cubans, who already live on the edge, with blackouts of up to 24 hours in a row, without fuel, with food shortages and catastrophic deterioration of the Public Health system.
“We have limited options and we also have a reorganization need in the country that implies that it is going to cost us a lot of work, it is going to require a lot of creativity.”
The vice chancellor announced that in the coming days the contingency plan will be communicated to the population: “a reorganization process” that is going to be “very difficult” for the population, he insisted.
