The Cuban ambassador to the UN, Ernesto Soberón Guzmán stated that "the words collapse, betray, and resign are not in the dictionary of the Cuban people."
“The words collapse, betray, and resign are not in our dictionary. Even when we face a situation like this, which is very complex. The words in our dictionary are resistance, resilience, and seeking solutions to our problems,” said the official, in line with the propaganda of Cuban leaders, in an interview for the Democracy Now channel.
The diplomat echoed the arguments of the Cuban elite, which demands sacrifice from ordinary Cubans while sitting in their privileged positions, and at the same time blamed the U.S. for all the problems on the island
“This is not the first time we are facing a situation like this. What they are doing is creating as many problems as possible, and this is not a new tactic. It dates back to 1960, when Secretary of State Lester Mallory said that the only way to overthrow the Cuban government is to create economic problems, a humanitarian situation so harsh that the Cuban people cannot endure it,” he added.
Soberón stated that "history shows that we have resisted for the last sixty-seven years. And we are ready to continue seeking solutions to our problems."
"The question is why the U.S. needs to do this against a small country like Cuba," he concluded.
In contrast to this type of usual statements, this Saturday the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a strong criticism against the power elite in Havana, focusing his message on the deep economic decline of the island and the Cuban government's resistance to implementing structural reforms.
Rubio defined the current crisis as the direct result of an exhausted political and economic model, whose main obstacle - he asserted - is the regime's desire to maintain absolute control over all strategic sectors.
“The fundamental problem that Cuba faces is that it has no economy, and the people in charge of that country, in control of that country, do not know how to improve the daily lives of their citizens without relinquishing power over the sectors they control,” stated in remarks collected by European sources.
According to the official, the ruling elite faces a crossroads that it refuses to resolve: to open up avenues for economic growth or to continue exercising a hegemonic power that has led to structural stagnation.
“They want to control everything; they don’t want the people of Cuba to control anything,” he emphasized.
In his view, even when presented with opportunities to implement changes, “they do not seem capable of understanding or accepting them in any way.”
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