- Title: Cuba calls Trump speech on island 'grotesque spectacle'
- Date: 19th June 2017
- Summary: VIENNA, AUSTRIA (JUNE 19, 2017) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTER, BRUNO RODRIGUEZ, ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE CUBAN LOGO ON PODIUM RODRIGUEZ STANDING AT PODIUM JOURNALISTS FILMING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTER, BRUNO RODRIGUEZ, SAYING: "Cuba, as I have said, is willing to establish a dialogue, a cooperation, and the negotiation of pending issues of bilateral nature. Just as we will refuse to negotiate any issue related to the self-determination, independence and sovereignty of the Cuban people." REPORTER TYPING ON SMARTPHONE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTER, BRUNO RODRIGUEZ, SAYING: "Contrary to the objectives that are invoked, the measures are not only a setback in bilateral relations, but will also damage the sectors with which American business people could establish relations in our country." JOURNALIST TYPING ON LAPTOP RODRIGUEZ AT PODIUM IN NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALIST TYPING ON LAPTOP (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTER, BRUNO RODRIGUEZ, SAYING: "Regarding the so-called fugitives from the U.S. in Cuba, I can re-affirm that in the use of the national laws, the international law, and Latin American tradition, Cuba has granted political asylum to fighters for civil rights from the U.S. Of course, these persons will not be returned to the U.S. There is no legal, political, or moral basis to claim to these persons." JOURNALISTS FILMING NEWS CONFERENCE RODRIGUEZ LEAVING NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 3rd July 2017 18:56
- Keywords: US President Donald Trump Cuba Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez
- Location: VIENNA, AUSTRIA
- City: VIENNA, AUSTRIA
- Country: Austria
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0016LY4AIV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:U.S. President Donald Trump's speech on Cuba was a "grotesque spectacle," but the island's government will continue working towards better relations with the majority of Americans, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on Monday (June 19).
Trump announced a partial rollback of the normalisation of relations with Cuba on Friday (June 16) in Miami, the heartland of Cuban exiles, in a theatre named after the leader of the failed U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion of the island in 1961.
The U.S. president stopped short of breaking diplomatic relations with Cuba, restored in 2015 after more than five decades of hostility and leaves many recent agreements between the two countries intact.
However, it will tighten restrictions on Americans traveling to the Caribbean island, hurting the booming Cuban tourism industry and clamp down on U.S. business dealings with Cuba's military.
Rodriguez said that these measures were directly against the Trump's perceived pro-business policies, and would inevitably hit U.S. companies and citizens by restricting their ability to invest in or travel to Cuba, while also hurting the Cuban people.
He also described fugitives from the U.S. - such as the black activist Joanne Chesimard convicted of murder in 1977 - as "fighters for civil rights" who were granted political asylum from the Cuban government, and said that there was no legal, political or moral basis to extradite them to the U.S. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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