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The president Miguel Díaz-Canel stated that Cuba is willing to receive investments and business from American companies, but pointed out that it is the very laws of Washington's embargo that hinder that commercial relationship.
"Today there are many things for which we are open, for example, to having American investments in Cuba, to having businesses from American entities in Cuba, but those who limit it are not us; they are limited by the very laws of the blockade," stated the leader in an extensive interview published this Friday by the Spanish media elDiario.es.
The statements come at the worst moment for relations between Havana and Washington in decades. This Thursday, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Department of the Treasury included for the first time Díaz-Canel and his wife Lis Cuesta Peraza on the list of blocked individuals, alongside other high-ranking officials of the regime.
The context could not be more adverse for the regime. This Friday marked the deadline set by Washington for foreign companies to sever ties with GAESA, the conglomerate of the military elite that controls 70% of the Cuban economy.
As a result, hotel chains like Iberostar, Meliá, Blue Diamond Resorts, and Aston have begun to leave the island.
Díaz-Canel acknowledged that these companies "are leaving against their will" and proposed new modalities for Cubans living abroad who wish to invest in and manage hotels, as well as entities from countries not dependent on the United States.
It is not the first time the regime has signaled economic openness. In March, Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga announced that Cuba would allow Cubans abroad to invest and own businesses on the island, and in April, Díaz-Canel himself invited American companies to participate in oil exploration and drilling.
In response to pressure from the Trump administration, the Cuban head of state accused the U.S. president of seeking "the suffocation of Cuba to incite social unrest and have a pretext to intervene."
He also identified three scenarios that he attributes to Washington: provoking a social upheaval to intervene under the pretext of humanitarian aid, a coercive dialogue to take control of the Cuban economy, and direct military aggression.
The Cuban leader also confirmed the existence of dialogue channels with the Trump administration, but he drew red lines, including no conditioning of the political system, respect for sovereignty, and reciprocity.
"It must be a dialogue without pressure, on equal terms, without conditioning regarding changes in our political system," he stated.
From Washington, the pressure does not relent. Trump promised to address Cuba after resolving the crisis with Iran, while describing the regime as a "failed nation."
For his part, Marco Rubio stated that the Trump administration will not tolerate Marxist regimes in the hemisphere, although he also acknowledged before Congress that there are "technocrats" in Cuba with whom the United States could work towards a transition.
The crisis that Cuba is going through is structural and has worsened since January, when the capture of former president Nicolás Maduro interrupted the shipments of approximately 70,000 barrels of Venezuelan crude oil daily.
Díaz-Canel acknowledged in the interview that there is a surgical waiting list of over 100,000 patients, including more than 12,000 children, and that the infant mortality rate has doubled.
The Economist Intelligence Unit projects a decline in Cuba's GDP of between 6.5% and 7.2% in 2026.
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