Cuba's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Fernández de Cossio denied on Tuesday in an interview with EFE that Havana is jointly designing a negotiation table with the United States. The diplomat confirmed that messages have been 'exchanged' since the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on January 3, but stressed that 'it would be a mistake to say that a negotiation is being designed' because that dialogue 'has not begun.' 'We have exchanged messages, and the US government knows perfectly well what Cuba's position is, willing to sustain a dialogue, and it has not rejected it,' affirmed De Cossio, who also denied that there could be indirect contacts through intermediaries such as Mexico or the Vatican. His statements contrast with those made in recent days by US President Donald Trump, who has on several occasions assured that his administration is having a negotiation with the Cuban government, even at a high level. Cuba's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Fernández de Cossío speaks in an interview with EFE this Tuesday, in Havana (Cuba). 'We have no intention of talking about that, it is not part of the bilateral dialogue between two countries.' Asked about whether a figure like that of Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, could emerge in Cuba, De Cossio flatly refused to comment on the analogy. 'If it is thought that there is a fragmentation within the Cuban government, fragmentation within the political forces in Cuba, and a willingness of a small group to cede Cuba's sovereign rights—the prerogative of our country—and to yield to the pressure, the aggression of the United States, unjustified and immoral,... it is a wrong interpretation,' he asserted. Limited options In this context, De Cossio acknowledged that his country has 'limited options' and announced that 'in the coming days' it will communicate to the population a contingency plan, 'a reorganization process' that will be 'very difficult' for the population. 'We have limited options and we also have a need for reorganization in the country that implies that it will cost us a lot of work, it will require a lot of creativity. And the US government knows it. EFE/ Ernesto Mastrascusa 'Cuba has the legal right and the moral right before the oil siege, and it has the disposition to sit down to dialogue with the United States. It is not something simple, it is something difficult for the government's management and it is something very difficult for the population as a whole,' he stated. Meanwhile, the diplomat explained, the country is 'preparing for defense,' to 'resist a military aggression.' 'But they would have to ask themselves what the end is. We have told them directly, we have said it publicly,' he stated. De Cossio warned that 'there must be a mutual will to ensure and design a dialogue that is serious, that is constructive, that is responsible, and that is respectful of the sovereign equality between both States.' Neither reforms nor prisoners He also drew the limits of the areas that could be addressed in that potential negotiation, ruling out political and economic reforms, as well as a release of prisoners on the island (as has happened in Venezuela). Regarding possible political or economic reforms, he indicated that Cuba has 'the same limitation' that Washington would have to discuss with Havana about 'the constitution of the United States' or about 'the raids' against migrants that are being carried out 'in Minneapolis and in other cities.' As for the prisoners, he was blunt: 'We see no reason, we see no link that one issue (oil blockade) has with the other (prisoners). A reorganization process that we have foreseen (...) and that we are preparing.'
