HAVANA, March 20 (Reuters) – A senior Cuban official said on Friday that neither Cuba’s political system nor the term of President Miguel Diaz-Canel were subject to negotiation in talks with the United States. “I can categorically confirm that … the political system of Cuba is not up for negotiation, and of course neither the […]
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Cuba says its president’s term not subject to negotiation in talks with US
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HAVANA, March 20 (Reuters) – A senior Cuban official said on Friday that neither Cuba’s political system nor the term of President Miguel Diaz-Canel were subject to negotiation in talks with the United States.
“I can categorically confirm that … the political system of Cuba is not up for negotiation, and of course neither the president nor the position of any official in Cuba is subject to negotiation with the United States,” Vice Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio told a press conference.
Cuba acknowledged a week ago that it had entered talks with the U.S. government as an oil blockade imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump pushes the Communist-run nation deeper into economic crisis.
The New York Times, citing four people familiar with the talks, later reported that the Trump administration was seeking to push Diaz-Canel from power with two years remaining on his term as president and five years left as leader of the Communist Party.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta in Havana; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Alistair Bell)