The head of Cuba’s delegation to negotiate “normalization” with the United States has vowed that Cuba will not “move one millimeter” on issues such as its rampant human rights violations in talks with American officials. This follows Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to the island for the opening of the American embassy in Havana.
“Decision of an internal nature are not negotiable and will never be on a conversational agenda with the United State to negotiate over,” said Josefina Vidal, the head of the Cuban delegation tasked with reestablishing diplomatic relations with America. She added that “Cuba will do absolutely nothing, will not move one millimeter its position to try to respond to people that are not looking out for our nation’s best interests.”
Vidal was responding to concerns that the Obama administration’s decision to legitimize the communist Cuban regime by reestablishing diplomatic ties would embolden Castro and his cohort when oppressing the rights of Cuban dissidents to demand a democratic government. In a separate interview with Reuters, Vidal dismissed complaints by Cuban exiles in the United States of communist repression of their families on the island as calls for “revenge.”
The Cuban government has largely responded to criticism of the White House by asserting that they would not be persuaded to democratize their government, and by pointing out so-called “human rights” issues within the United States.
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