Cuba keen to speak with US however 'with out strain or preconditions'

[ad_1] Cuba is ready to carry dialogue with the USA however not below strain, President Miguel Diaz-Canel insisted Thursday after months of threats from US President Donald Trump.

Trump has vowed to chop off Cuba's entry to grease and said the communist island was "able to fall" as he warned it to "make a deal" with Washington "BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE."

The Republican didn't say what sort of a deal he was after, however has repeatedly said the 2 international locations have been in negotiations, which Havana has denied.

"Cuba is keen to interact in dialogue with the USA, a dialogue on any subject... however with out strain or preconditions," Diaz-Canel mentioned on state TV and radio.

He mentioned any talks should happen "from a place of equals, with respect for our sovereignty, our independence and our self-determination" and with out "interference in our inside affairs."

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White Home spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt instructed reporters Thursday: "I believe the truth that the Cuban authorities is on its final leg and its nation is about to break down, they need to be smart of their statements directed in direction of the president of the USA."

Requested about Cuba's denial of the existence of negotiations, she mentioned her boss was "at all times keen to interact in diplomacy and I consider that's one thing that's happening, in truth, with the Cuban authorities."

'Able to fall' Cuba, within the grips of an financial disaster, had lengthy relied on oil provides from Venezuela, whose chief was ousted in a lethal US army operation final month.

Trump subsequently claimed to have taken management of Venezuelan oil, vowed to starve Cuba of the commodity, and threatened tariffs on another nation stepping in to assist US-sanctioned Havana.

The strain techniques threaten to plunge Cuba into full darkness as its energy vegetation battle to maintain the lights on as a result of gasoline shortages.

Earlier Thursday, lots of of hundreds of individuals within the nation's east have been left with out electrical energy for hours after an electrical energy grid failure.

Diaz-Canel insisted his nation nonetheless had mates, which he didn't title, because it confronts what he described as an "acute gasoline scarcity."

Learn extra Trump threatens new tariffs on international locations supplying Cuba with oil

"We can't brazenly clarify the whole lot we're doing," he mentioned, however "Cuba is just not alone."

He mentioned vitality manufacturing from diesel- and oil-powered mills has been "zero" for weeks.

On Thursday, the US State Division introduced it was offering $6 million in direct help to Cubans by way of the Catholic Church in that nation.

It comes after $3 million of earlier help, additionally supplied by way of the identical mechanisms, with the fabric help being delivered by native parish representatives.

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum mentioned this week that her nation was utilizing all out there diplomatic channels to make sure a resumption of crude shipments to Cuba, however wouldn't put itself vulnerable to punitive US tariffs.

Diaz-Canel mentioned the strain that Cuba discovered itself below highlighted the significance of its drive for greener vitality and decreasing reliance on others.