“The lifting of the energy embargo against the country was the highest priority for our delegation,” Alejandro García del Toro, a Cuban diplomatic official, told the station. According to him, the negotiations took place at the level of deputy foreign ministers.
According to him, the exchange of views between the delegations of Cuba and the USA took place “respectfully and professionally”. According to him, the American side did not threaten anything or set any ultimatums.
The negotiations were confirmed to the station by unnamed high-ranking representatives of the US State Department, with the fact that US diplomats flew to the island in early April for the first time since 2016.
Among the conditions for the lifting of US sanctions against Cuba is the end of political repression, the release of political prisoners and the liberalization of the country’s economy, NPR pointed out.
At the end of January, US President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on any country that sells or supplies oil to Cuba, and began a de facto energy blockade of the island. However, after the beginning of the blockade, the USA let at least one Russian tanker reach the shores of the Caribbean island. Trump has also threatened to intervene in the country, and Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said last week that his country is ready to fight if that happens.
At the same time, García del Toro described the US energy embargo as an “unjustified punishment for the entire Cuban population”. “It is also a form of global blackmail against sovereign states that have every right to export fuel to Cuba in accordance with the rules of free trade,” he added.
