Interviewed on the news program El Despertador, Arzuaga rejected this measure, adopted by the president on the same day of his inauguration, on January 20, without any valid argument.
He recalled that a week earlier, on January 14, his predecessor, President Joe Biden announced the decision – although late – to exclude Cuba from that unilateral list and eliminate a registry of Cuban entities with which US citizens and institutions are banned from carrying out financial transactions.
Arzuaga reiterated the damage caused to Cuba’s economy and its population by this controversial provision because it means that no international financial institution can make transactions related to the country, and the impossibility of accessing foreign financing and trade, among many other consequences.
He recalled that the economic, commercial and financial blockade, the longest in history, and the regulations to reinforce it are still in force, in violation of international law and the human rights of all Cubans.
Regarding Trump’s recent announcement to use the illegal naval base that Washington keeps in the eastern province of Guantanamo to imprison migrants against the will of Cubans, he asserted that his country rejects that decision and considers it a brutal act.
He stated that Cuba maintains good relations with the people of the United States and is willing to sit down with the US Government to seek a relationship based on respect for sovereignty, self-determination, non-interference in internal affairs and mutual benefit.
Regarding the upcoming visit of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to the Dominican Republic, Arzuaga noted that Cuba respects the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean that have invited him to their respective countries.
Cuba will never do anything that harms the Dominican Republic, due to our recent history, and because respect for the others’ rights is peace, as Mexican politician Benito Juárez said.
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