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The head of the Mission of the United States Embassy in Cuba, Mike Hammer, held a meeting with opposition member Manuel Cuesta Morúa, just days after the latter sparked significant controversy by publicly questioning Washington's pressure strategy on the Cuban regime.
The meeting was confirmed this Friday by the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana, which published a photo of the gathering and emphasized that both parties discussed the situation in the country and agreed on demanding the release of political prisoners.
"Our Mission Chief Mike Hammer met with Manuel Cuesta Morúa... They discussed the situation in the country and united in their demand for the release of the youth from #11J," the Embassy noted in a message shared on social media.
In the same publication, the U.S. mission reiterated its position on repression in Cuba: “Freedom of expression must be respected, and all political prisoners should be released.”
The meeting takes place at a particularly sensitive moment, after Cuesta Morúa —recently elected president of the Council for Democratic Transition in Cuba (CDTC)— stated in an interview with the EFE agency that “suffocating Cuba” only strengthens repression, referring to the strategy of limiting the regime's access to oil and fuels.
For the opposition, provoking a social upheaval through an energy collapse would not lead to a democratic transition, but rather reinforce the repressive machinery of the State.
"Provoking an outbreak only serves to strengthen the repressive machinery of the State," he warned, also emphasizing that this path could drive the country into an even worse humanitarian crisis.
His words did not go unnoticed. Within hours, opposition figures responded strongly. Among them, the leader of UNPACU, José Daniel Ferrer, rejected the idea that the maximum pressure policy promoted by the Trump administration means "suffocating" the Cuban people.
"With the U.S. policy of maximum pressure, Cuba is not being suffocated as Cuesta Morúa states. The tyranny is being pressured," asserted Ferrer, defending the idea that the regime represses more fiercely when it feels there will be no consequences.
The opponent also recalled that during the rapprochement promoted by Barack Obama, repression increased, and he considered that international pressure is the only real brake to contain state violence against the citizens.
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