The moderator of the program "Meet the Press" from NBC News, Kristen Welker, did not back down this Thursday when Miguel Díaz-Canel attempted to evade her most uncomfortable question during an interview in Havana: whether he would be willing to resign to save Cuba.
Díaz-Canel, visibly irritated by the question, responded with a counter-question: "Do they ask that question to Trump?" He also questioned whether the inquiry "came from the U.S. State Department." Welker did not back down and clarified that she has asked equally difficult questions to President Donald Trump.
It was the first interview that Díaz-Canel granted to a U.S. television outlet, and the exchange with Welker highlighted the discomfort of the Cuban leader when faced with a journalist known for her rigorous questioning of interviewees.
"Resigning is not part of our vocabulary", declared Díaz-Canel, insisting that Cuban leaders "are chosen by the people" and that Cuba is not "subject to the whims of the United States."
The Cuban regime, however, is a one-party system that does not allow for the existence of a real opposition. All candidates for the National Assembly must belong to the Communist Party, and there is no transparency or genuine electoral competition.
This interview with NBC is part of a media campaign by the Cuban regime in U.S. media. Just two days earlier, Díaz-Canel had granted an interview to Newsweek, warning that Cuba would respond with guerrilla warfare to any military intervention.
Regarding the state of relations between the two countries, Díaz-Canel called for unconditional dialogue: "I believe that the most important thing would be for them to understand and adopt this critical stance, a sincere stance, and to recognize how much it has cost the Cuban people, and how much it has deprived the American people of a normal relationship with the Cuban people."
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