Cuba willing to maintain Respectful and Constructive Dialog with Washington

HAVANA, Cuba, Jan 22 (acn) Cuba reiterated its willingness to keep holding respectful talks with the United States, based on sovereign equality and reciprocity, with no undermining of its national independence and self-determination, said the general director of the United States Office at the Cuban Foreign Ministry Josefina Vidal in statements to reporters during talks on the reestablishment of bilateral diplomatic relations between Washington and Havana.

Vidal, who heads the Cuban delegation to the talks, ratified the Cuban government's commitment to the improvement of bilateral relations and its will to keep advancing towards their normalization.

She said that bilateral diplomatic relations and the opening of embassies must be based on the principles of international law as established by the UN Charter and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic and Consular Relations. For Cuba this stands for mutual respect for the political, economic and social systems of the two countries and for the avoidance of any form of interference with the internal affairs or threats to the political, economic and cultural foundations of both states, the official added.

Nobody can expect that Cuba will ever renounce its principles, Vidal stressed and added that these efforts aim at establishing a civilized relationship between two countries with profound differences and different conceptions on many issues, but that can get along in a civilized and peaceful manner, by recognizing and respecting such differences and at the same time, and as neighbors identify areas of common interest to develop cooperation in the benefit of the two nations, the region and the world, the official noted.

Josefina Vidal said that the two parties agreed on the steps forward to formalize the reestablishment of diplomatic relations through the exchange of notes in an upcoming date. However, she said that it would be difficult to explain that such reestablishment of relations has taken place while Cuba continues to unfairly be on the US black list of states sponsors of international terrorism.

Vidal added that they told the US delegation that in order to open embassies the current financial situation facing the Cuban Interest Section in Washington must be resolved. She referred to the impossibility for the US office to find a bank that provides its financial functions due to the US blockade.

This will be a long and complex process that will require work from the two parties, who will have to solve pending problems on the bilateral agenda, she noted and stressed that in order to normalize bilateral relations the lifting of the US blockade is crucial.

We recognize the willingness of the President of the United States to sustain responsible and honest debate at the US Congress to achieve the end of the blockade, said Josefina Vidal.