President Donald Trump stated this Saturday, during the Shield of the Americas summit, that Secretary of State Marco Rubio could dedicate just "one free hour" to finalize a deal with Cuba.
In his statements he also assured that Havana seeks to negotiate with his administration and that an understanding with the island would be “very easy” to achieve.
“What are you going to do, Marco? Take a couple of days off? No, he won’t. Maybe an hour. He will take an hour off and then finalize an agreement on Cuba. That one will be an easy one,” said Trump.
In the same statement, Trump asserted that Cuba is undergoing an extreme crisis and described the country as a nation on the brink of collapse.
"Cuba is at the end of the road; it truly is at the end of the road. They have no money, they have no oil," he stated, before attributing this situation to "a bad philosophy" and "a regime that has been bad for a long time."
The leader also noted that, in the past, the island received economic and energy support from Venezuela, but that support no longer exists.
"Before they used to receive money from Venezuela. They used to receive oil from Venezuela. But now they have no money from Venezuela, they have no oil, they have nothing," he expressed.
Trump added a broader description of the decline that, according to him, Cuba is facing, stating that there are even issues with supplying fuel to aircraft.
"People can't even... when they land in Cuba, they can't get gasoline to take off again. They have to leave their planes there," he said.
In addition to presenting that overview, the president assured that the Cuban government is already in contact with Washington.
"And they want to negotiate. They are negotiating with Marco and me, and with a few others," he stated. He then emphasized the idea that a potential agreement would not be complex: "I believe that reaching a deal with Cuba could be achieved very easily."
I've been hearing about Cuba for half a century
Trump framed those statements within a long-term vision regarding the Cuban crisis. "For 50 years, I have been hearing about Cuba."
"Since I was a small child, I have heard people talk about Cuba. You know, Cuba is a disaster. I have heard so much about Cuba for so many years," he stated.
He also stated that the Cuban political system is in its final stage, although he anticipated a future change. "But Cuba is in its last moments as it has been. It will have a very grand new life, but it is in its last moments as it is now," he asserted.
Despite this, he clarified that the immediate priority of his administration is focused on another international scenario. “Our focus right now is on Iran, and we will address that,” he stated, before returning to the topic of Cuba and joking about the time Rubio would need to resolve it.
Trump added that the policy of his government is not limited to Cuba, but extends across the entire area. “What we are doing encompasses the whole region,” he stated.
In his remarks, he also assured that several attendees had asked him to take action regarding the situation in Cuba. “Many of you have come here today and tell me: ‘We hope you can take care of Cuba, because they have had issues with Cuba,’” he recounted.
He even said that those requests were repeated several times during the meeting. “I was surprised, but four of you said: ‘Could you do us a favor and take care of Cuba?’ I will take care of that, alright,” he concluded.
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