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Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Josefina Vidal stated this Tuesday to the agency AFP that the talks between Cuba and the United States are in an early stage and lack a formal structure.
"We are in a very preliminary, very initial phase, and there is still no structured negotiation between the two governments," he stated.
Vidal made these statements during a women's demonstration in Havana called to denounce the effects of the U.S. economic sanctions against the island.
The deputy chancellor, at 65 years, is one of the main architects of the restoration of diplomatic relations between both countries in 2015, under the governments of Raúl Castro and Barack Obama, and was identified as one of the interlocutors for Secretary of State Marco Rubio during secret contacts.
The Cuban government had officially confirmed on March 13 the existence of talks with Washington to seek "solutions through dialogue for bilateral differences."
On that same day, the release of political prisoners began as part of an agreement mediated by the Vatican, with at least 20 released on that date.
On April 2, the regime announced the pardon of more than 2,000 prisoners, although human rights organizations such as Prisoners Defenders confirmed that none of those granted clemency were political prisoners.
The context in which these conversations take place is one of maximum bilateral tension.
Since the capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces in January, Cuba has lost between 80 and 90% of its crude oil imports, which has exacerbated an energy crisis with blackouts of up to 25 hours a day.
Trump also signed an executive order imposing tariffs on any country that supplies oil to the island, although last week Washington allowed the passage of a Russian tanker carrying 730,000 barrels of crude into the port of Matanzas.
Democratic congressmembers Pramila Jayapal and Jonathan Jackson, after a five-day visit to Cuba during which they met with Díaz-Canel on Monday, also described the situation as preliminary contacts between governments, but no formal negotiations.
Vidal contrasted the current moment with the process of 2015, which progressed swiftly and with political will from both sides. "We worked to create a relationship that was not free of differences, but that did not place those differences at the center," he recalled.
Despite the adverse circumstances, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs insisted that "Cuba has always believed in dialogue" and "not in confrontation."
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