MIAMI, United States. – The vice chancellor of the Cuban regime Carlos Fernández de Cossío declared this Tuesday to the EFE agency that Havana has no intention of addressing the issue of prisoners with the United States, even in the midst of contacts that, according to him, have been limited to the exchange of messages after the capture of the Venezuelan ruler. Nicolas Maduro.
“We don’t see reason, we don’t see what link an issue has [bloqueo petrolero] with the other [presos]. We have no intention of talking about that, it is not part of the bilateral dialogue between two countries,” said the diplomat.
In the same interview, Fernández de Cossío denied that Havana is “jointly designing” a negotiating table with Washington and stressed that this dialogue “has not begun,” although he assured that both governments had exchanged “messages” and that Washington knew “perfectly well what Cuba’s position is” regarding its willingness to dialogue and “has not rejected it.” He also ruled out indirect contacts through intermediaries such as Mexico or the Vatican.
The vice chancellor’s statements contrast with the recent statements of President Donald Trump, who has said on several occasions that his administration maintains a negotiation with the Cuban Government, even “at a high level.” In previous days, Trump also publicly referred to the possibility of an agreement with Havana in the context of the serious crisis that the Island is going through.
Fernández de Cossío framed the Cuban regime’s willingness to dialogue in the conflict over energy supplies and the “oil siege.” “Cuba is legally right and morally right in the face of the oil siege and is willing to sit down and dialogue with the United States. And the United States Government knows this. We have told them directly, we have said it publicly,” he stated. At the same time, he warned that for a dialogue there would have to be “a mutual will” for it to be “serious”, “constructive”, “responsible” and “respectful of the sovereign equality between both States.”
The vice chancellor also set limits on what Cuba would not put on the table. Regarding political or economic reforms, he said that Havana has “the same limitation” that Washington would have to discuss with Cuba “the constitution of the United States” or “the raids” against migrants in “Minneapolis and other cities.” In that same package of excluded issues he placed the release of prisoners, rejecting that this issue be part of the bilateral dialogue.
In parallel, Fernández de Cossío acknowledged that the country faces “limited options” and announced that “in the coming days” a “contingency plan” and “a reorganization process” will be communicated to the population, which he described as “very difficult” for Cubans.
“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. A reorganization process that we have planned (…) and we have been preparing. 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,” he said.
