They are taking place amid a months-long US oil blockade that has compounded a dire economic situation in Cuba.
Diaz-Canel says on state television that the aim of the talks is finding solutions through dialogue to the bilateral differences between the two nations. US President Donald Trump has imposed an oil embargo on Cuba. He also threatens sanctions against countries selling oil to Cuba.
The oil blockade comes on top of the over 60-year embargo that has squeezed the country’s economic prospects, Cuban’s spending much of the day without electricity while the United Nations has raised humanitarian concerns. There are reports of rising prices, rationed fuel and medicine shortages with the healthcare system pushed to the brink. The Trump administration has long targeted Cuba over human rights concerns but the island nation has continued to assert its sovereignty as the US then used its military leverage to tighten the economic screws, calling on Havana to make a deal. Diaz-Canel said Cuba was interested in conducting the talks “on the basis of equality and respect for the political systems of both states.
–Reuters–
