USA The pressure increased this Tuesday on the Cuban authorities so that they allow free market reformswhile the island managed reset your electrical grid after a gigantic national blackout.
Cubawhich acknowledged that it is in talks with Washington, made some announcements in that regard on Monday, such as enable its diaspora to invest in multiple economic sectorsincluding banking, agriculture and infrastructure.
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However, the Secretary of State, Marco Rubiomaintained that “they are not drastic enough” the advertisements.
“That’s not going to fix things”Rubio declared before journalists in the Oval Office of the White House, where he accompanied the president Donald Trump at the reception of the Irish Prime Minister, Michael Martin.
On his side, the State Department pointed out this Tuesday, in reference to some protests that are taking place on the island, that “The Cuban people demand (…) basic services, subsistence and to be free from tyranny” and “The Cuban regime must respect these fundamental rights“.
The US maintains an economic war against Cuba
Havana was quick to react. “The United States government maintains the economic war ruthless that denies Cuba access to financing, markets, technology and fuelsbut accuses the country of not knowing how to manage its economy,” the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, wrote in X.
Likewise, Washington “seizes on that pretext to threaten with a military aggression and the ambition to seize” of the country, added De Cossío.
Simultaneously in Washington, the deputy head of the Cuban mission in the United States, Tanieris Dieguez, declared to AFP that both countries “They have many things to put on the table“, but that neither should ask the other to change their political system.
“Nothing related to our political system (…) is part of the negotiations,” he noted.
On Monday, Trump was harsh in pointing out that He aspired to the “honor of taking Cuba.” When asked about the next steps in relation to the island, he said: ““They are talking to Marco (Rubio), and we are going to do something soon.”
According to the American newspaper The New York Timesthe Trump administration is pushing for President Miguel Díaz-Canel to leave power.
Power restoration
Amid pressure from Washington, The Cuban government managed to restore the electrical serviceafter a general blackout recorded at noon on Monday in the middle of a severe energy crisis.
“Restored the National Electroenergy System (SEN) and with it the fundamental services to the population,” the national electricity company (UNE) stated in X.
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According to the company, although the 15 provinces of the country were reconnected to the SEN, scheduled blackouts remain in place due to the “generation capacity deficit”.
“Living in this country is agony“Rolando, a 55-year-old bricklayer who preferred not to give his last name, told AFP. “If you normally have four or five hours of light a day at most, then you have no life,” he explained.
The electricity generation in Cuba is supported by a network of eight aging thermoelectric plantssome with more than 40 years of exploitation, which suffer breakdowns or must be shut down for maintenance cycles.
With 9.6 million inhabitants, The island has suffered six widespread blackouts in almost a year and a half. At the beginning of March, two thirds of the territory, including the capital, had already been affected by a partial cut.
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