Cuban Gov. Sees Worsening Relations with the United States
HAVANA TIMES – Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Sunday that his country’s relations with the United States are in retreat and asked President Donald Trump for a respectful dialogue, reported dpa news.
The Cuban president is preparing to travel to New York for the upcoming session of the UN General Assembly. His close ally, Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, is also heading to New York and says he wants to talk with Trump.
“We do not deny the possibility of dialogue, but it must be of respect, where our convictions are not conditioned, because we do not accept impositions,” said Diaz-Canel in an interview with Telesur from Havana.
Diaz-Canel maintained his government’s willingness to enter into dialogue with the United States, but did not see much hope for the development of meetings “if this abhorrent attitude of the United States Government is maintained.”
“We must ask the president of the United States if he wants to have a dialogue with Cuba,” said Diaz-Canel who clarified that the dialogue “cannot be from an arrogant attitude.”
“The dialogue is built, but you cannot aspire to a dialogue with one party that conditions the other,” said the Cuban president in the interview held at the Palace of the Revolution.
Diaz-Canel pointed out that the elimination of the term “communism” in the draft of the new Cuban constitution is not a renunciation of revolutionary principles because the term of socialism is maintained and “either of the two terms implies the other.”
“The most worried about whether or not we are communists are the ones who have been attacking us for all of their lives, which shows a double standard,” said Diaz-Canel.
On the other hand, it will not be changed that the Communist Party of Cuba is the only legal political organization on the island and that it is constitutionally considered as “the superior leading force” of the Cuban State and society.
“The enemy of the Cuban revolution knows that its weapon is to fragment our unity,” he said without naming but in allusion to the United States and the Cuban anti-Castro organizations of South Florida, which have a great political influence in Washington.
In another part of the interview Diaz-Canel defended the inclusion in the new Constitution of the possibility that people of the same sex can get married.
“I agree, I think is that the approach of recognizing marriage between people, without limitations, responds to a problem of eliminating any type of discrimination in society,” he told Telesur in the interview broadcast Sunday.
Only the Constitution? Well then, thank God for the Constitution. But wait, Cuba had a Constitution and it did not stop Fidel from being a Dictator for more than 40 years before he wrote a new and more favorable constitution to fit the profile of his dictatorship. It is NOT our Constitution that keeps Trump at bay. It’s the will of the American people. If Cubans loved freedom the way Americans love freedom, the Castros could not continue to rule Cuba as they do. By the way, I call foul. Comparing countries based on our current presidents is unfair. Trump is an idiot and the US would lose every time. Where was your comparison 2 years ago? Obama vs. Raul?
It is only the U.S Constitution that prevents Trump from becoming the dictator that he wants to be. Whatever you feel about the Cuban Government, at least Diaz-Canel is an intelligent person, not like the deranged lunatic that is president of the U.S.
Agreed. Unfortunately, the article does not go into detail as to why relations are deteriorating. The problem seems to start with the apparent attacks on American embassy personnel. It is clear under international law that the host country is responsible for the security of embassy personnel. So, its Cuba’s responsibility to deal with the problem…not Americas. The Cuban government should:
1. Acknowledge the problem.
2. Commit its resources to solving the problem.
3. Then seek better with relations with the U.S., as this is clearly in Cuba’s best interests.
On its face, Diaz-Canel has every right as the appointed President of a sovereign country, to demand equal and respectful treatment from the United States despite our political differences. But the reality is that Cuba is a dictatorship and as a rule denies equal and respectful treatment for Cuban citizens who have political differences with the Castro regime. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.