Cuba will not discuss political reforms with Obama

Political and economic reforms in communist Cuba will be a no-go area during talks between Cuban leader Raul Castro and US President Barack Obama, the foreign minister said in Havana Thursday.

"In our relations with the United States, the carrying out of domestic changes in Cuba is absolutely off the negotiating table," Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said in televised remarks three days before Obama arrives.

Obama will be the first sitting US president to visit Cuba since 1928, capping his historic policy of ending a bitter standoff that has endured since Fidel Castro's overthrow of the US-backed government of Fulgencio Batista in 1959.

Although both sides are embracing Obama's visit as an opportunity to bury the hatchet, Rodriguez made clear that Cuba will not listen to Washington's often repeated demands for more democracy and a freer economy.

"No one can expect that Cuba should renounce a single principle in order to advance the normalization of relations between both countries," the minister said.

Rodriguez said there remain "major differences" between Cuba and the United States in areas of "political systems, democracy, human rights, the application and interpretation of international law."

However, no attempt will be made to bar Obama from speaking out to Cubans, with his major address planned for Tuesday to be carried live on national television.

"His appearance will be televised live for Cuban television. All will be able to see his speech and everyone will be able to form an opinion on what he says," Rodriguez said.
Source :AFP