HAVANA (AP).— Cuba does not have a dialogue table with the United States in the face of the tensions caused after President Donald Trump drastically increased sanctions on the country last week, a senior island official stated yesterday.
The exchanges of messages and conversations are the usual ones (migration and drugs above all) within the framework of bilateral diplomatic relations, Vice Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío said in an interview with The Associated Press.
“If you ask me if we have a dialogue table today (with the United States), we don’t,” Fernández de Cossío stated emphatically, although he reiterated that they are willing “to maintain this informal dialogue with the United States” to discuss “the differences,” respecting the political model of his country.
Trump signed an executive order last week in which he threatened to impose tariffs on goods from countries that dared to sell or deliver oil to Cuba, a tightening of sanctions imposed more than six decades ago to pressure change in the country.
Over the weekend, Trump noted that the United States had already begun a conversation with Cuban leaders as his government attempts to cut off its oil supplies from Venezuela and Mexico. The president suggested that this would force Cuba to sit at the negotiating table.
“Cuba is a peaceful country,” said Fernández de Cossío. “We just want to relate to the United States as we relate to the rest of the world. The United States is the exception today.”
When Fernández de Cossío was asked how long Cuba could endure the current conditions, given the acute economic crisis that the island is already experiencing in recent years—with severe blackouts and shortages—he assured that he could not reveal “any way” that the island has to guarantee the supply of oil.
“Cuba, of course, is preparing with creativity, with stoicism and with austerity,” he noted.
The island produces only 40% of the crude oil it needs for its economy, and until early January it depended on imports from Venezuela, Mexico and Russia. The intensity of the sanctions caused 7,556 million dollars in losses between March 2024 and February 2025, 49% more than the previous period, according to the authorities. In the last six years, Cuba lost 15% of its Gross Domestic Product, resulting in strong migration.
After signing the order to impose tariffs, Trump said that Cuba was a “bankrupt” nation and that it would not survive without the support of Venezuela, and he urged the island to negotiate with the United States before it was too “late.”
Meanwhile, the Russian embassy in Cuba reported yesterday that Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez and his counterpart Sergei Larov held a telephone conversation after the decision, where “the firm willingness to continue providing political and material support to Cuba was expressed,” according to the embassy.
On Sunday, President Claudia Sheinbaum reported that she would send food and humanitarian aid to Cuba, noting that the government was trying to resolve “in a diplomatic manner everything that has to do with the shipment of oil” to the country.
ClaimsAgainst representative
Videos on networks showed Cubans upset with Mike Hammer, in charge of the United States.
Protest
The presence of Hammer, the United States chargé d’affaires in Cuba, generated discomfort among the population during his weekend visit to the city of Camagüey in the center of the country.
Campaign
In recent months, Hammer has been traveling around the island, posting short videos about his meetings with Cubans, visiting the homes of provincial dissidents and openly expressing his opposition to the Cuban government. So far the trips had been uneventful.
Leave a Reply