End of Blockade of Cuba Should be a Unilateral Act by the U.S., Says FM

HAVANA, Cuba, Mar 31 (acn) Bruno Rodriguez, Minister of Foreign Affairs (FM), stressed on Tuesday in a telephone interview with the public media of Ecuador that the lifting of the blockade should be a unilateral act of the United States.

An information by Prensa Latina dated in Quito adds that the Cuban Foreign Minister explained to the conglomerate formed by the Public Radio of Ecuador, Ecuador TV, the newspaper El Telegrafo and the Andes news agency, that the end of the economic, financial and commercial sanctions applied by Washington against Cuba for more than five decades now could never be a result of negotiations, or in response to concessions made by the government of the island.
Cuba is neither blockading the United States, nor applying discriminatory measures against U.S. companies or U.S. tourists, recalled the head of Cuban diplomacy, who warned that despite recent executive measures adopted by President Barack Obama "the blockade continues to be a suffocating reality."
In this regard he noted that the U.S. president's decision to authorize the use of dollars in transactions with the island has been "a mere announcement" for Cuban banks are still unable to open accounts in the northern country.
I can declare, he asserted, that until now no normal financial transactions have taken place.
Rodriguez warned that despite the process of normalization of bilateral relations started on December 17, 2014, the corollary of which was the recent visit of Obama to Havana, it won't be possible to speak about normal ties as long as the United States continues seizing the Cuban territory occupied by the illegal naval base in Guantanamo, or finances radio and television programs and transmissions to alter the prevailing constitutional order in Cuba.
He also warned that Washington keeps intact its strategic objectives to dominate Cuba economically and politically, citing as an example the opening in the field of telecommunications and the financial support to non-state sector, which only seek, he said, to build opposition to the government.
With regard to the calls made by the U.S. president to the Cuban people to forget history and just look to the future, the official stressed that Cuba is willing to build a relationship of dialogue and cooperation with the United States, but without it implying to give up "not even a millimeter" of the principles of the Revolution or independence.
Speeches can be nice, even sincere, but a polite phrase, a smile or a gesture of warmth can not make people forget a long and complex history that marks the lives of Cubans, expressed the FM, who noted that 77 percent of his compatriots was born under the U.S. blockade.