Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel affirmed that the US blockade is the determining factor in the difficulties facing the Caribbean nation and assured that Cuba maintains its resolve to resist and defend its sovereignty.
“Without it, we would have fuel and we wouldn’t have blackouts. There would be food. We would produce the medicines we need. What they are doing is a true crime,” the president stated in an interview with the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo.
Díaz-Canel acknowledged the existence of internal difficulties, including bureaucratic problems and delays in certain government actions, but maintained that these do not explain the magnitude of the current situation.
“I say with all sincerity: even if we had done everything right, without fail, the main cause of what Cuba is experiencing today is the blockade.”
The president explained that the U.S. coercive measures, intensified during Donald Trump’s presidency, directly affect fuel availability and, consequently, electricity generation, water supply, transportation, health services, and the functioning of the economy.
He noted that in the last seven months, Cuba has only received one shipment of oil from Russia as humanitarian aid, while private fuel imports have been limited. These amounts are insufficient to meet national needs.
Díaz-Canel also denounced the impact of U.S. actions on foreign companies that maintain trade relations with Cuba, arguing that these measures hinder the arrival of food, medicine, spare parts, and other supplies.
He stated that currently only a portion of the basic list of medicines can be supplied and mentioned difficulties in guaranteeing medical treatments, surgeries, and immunization programs.
The fuel shortage has also affected the electrical power system. The president pointed out that Cuba has generating capacity that it cannot fully utilize due to a lack of fuel, a situation that contributes to the prolonged blackouts experienced in the country.
Díaz-Canel rejected, however, the notion that Cuba is on the verge of collapse. “There are blackouts, but no blackout has extinguished the hope of the Cuban people nor broken our capacity,” he maintained.
In this regard, he highlighted the continued presence of healthcare workers in hospitals and the continuity of educational processes despite the difficulties.
The president He stated that the United States is attempting to economically strangle Cuba to provoke a social explosion that would lead to a break with the government and the fall of the Revolution.
In response, he affirmed that the country has no alternative but to resist and reiterated Havana’s willingness to maintain a dialogue with Washington, provided it takes place without preconditions and on the basis of respect for sovereignty.
Díaz-Canel noted that there are currently contacts between officials from both countries, although a dialogue agenda has not yet been established. “There can be no dialogue under oppression,” he stated.
[ SOURCE: PRENSA LATINA ]
