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Cuba seeks ‘civilized’ relationship with US: president
UNITED NATIONS, United States, Sept 24, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Cuban President
Miguel Diaz-Canel said Sunday his government wants a “civilized” relationship
with the United States — despite the embargo imposed on the island by the US
since 1962.
Speaking to the Cuban state press upon his arrival in New York for the UN
General Assembly, Diaz-Canel said he would use his speech at the annual
gathering to denounce the commercial, economic, and financial embargo “which
has already failed and will continue to fail.”
Of Cuban-US relations, he added Havana seeks “a civilized relationship
despite ideological differences.”
However, he said the government of US President Donald Trump is “an
administration with which it is difficult to form an equal relationship.”
The General Assembly marks Diaz-Canel’s debut on the world stage, after he
took office on April 19, succeeding brothers Fidel and Raul Castro.
His address is scheduled for September 26 — 58 years to the day since
Fidel Castro’s first speech there.
In a month, the Assembly will vote on a resolution calling for an end to
the embargo. The issue has been voted upon annually for over two decades, and
has majority support.
Despite its well-known position in favor of the embargo, the US abstained
in 2016 after former president Barack Obama and Raul Castro restored
diplomatic relations after over 50 years of tension.
But after Trump entered office, Washington reported several US diplomats
and their relatives in Havana had suffered mysterious symptoms as a result of
alleged “acoustic attacks” in late 2016 — an accusation Cuba denies.
As a result, the US recalled more than half of its staff from its Havana
embassy and expelled 15 Cuban diplomats from Washington.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1256 hrs