Cuba and US maintain ‘channel of communication’ but no formal talks

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Cuba’s charge d’affaires in Washington DC, Lianys Torres Rivera, said the two governments have maintained a channel of communication but have not restarted official talks.

The comments contrast with a statement by US President Donald Trump, who said in a speech to the United Nations that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was engaged in “full negotiations” with Havana.

Ms Torres Rivera said Cuba has always been fully prepared to engage in respectful dialogue with the US, provided it takes place on an equal footing and without conditions that undermine the island’s sovereignty, independence or right to self-determination.

The diplomat said Cuba would not negotiate changes to its political system, describing sovereignty as a “red line.” 

Ms Torres Rivera also said Cuba was not “naive” about threats made by Mr Trump and had stepped up preparations for any possible US military action against the Caribbean nation.

The comments come amid an escalation in US pressure on Cuba. 

The Cuban government says Washington has tightened the more than six-decade-old economic, commercial and financial blockade and imposed an oil blockade in January that has affected the country’s social and productive activity and subjected its population to severe hardship.

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