Cuba president says he’s ‘not stepping down’ in defiant NBC interview - BERITAJA

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said he would not measurement down successful his first question and reply pinch a U.S. web for Beritaja’ Meet the Press, which broadcast a information of the question and reply connected Thursday.

In a about five-minute clip — portion of a longer question and reply scheduled to aerial connected Sunday — journalist Kristen Welker asked Díaz-Canel if he would beryllium “willing to measurement down if it meant redeeming Cuba.”

Before answering, Díaz-Canel, 65, asked Welker if she had ever posed that mobility to immoderate different president successful the world.

He asked: “Is that a mobility from you, aliases is that coming from the State Department of the U.S. government?”

“In Cuba, the group who are successful activity positions are not elected by the U.S. government, and they don’t person a instruction from the U.S. government. We person a free sovereign state, a free state. We person self-determination and independence, and we are not subjected to the designs of the United States,” Díaz-Canel said.

“The conception of revolutionaries giving up and stepping down – it’s not portion of our vocabulary.”

Díaz-Canel said he became president not retired of a “personal ambition aliases firm ambition aliases moreover a statement ambition,” but because of a instruction by the people.

“If the Cuban group understand that I americium not fresh for office, that I person nary logic to beryllium here, past I should not beryllium holding this position of president; I will respond to them,” he said.

Díaz-Canel besides accused the U.S. authorities of implementing a “hostile policy” against Cuba and said it has “no civilized to request thing from Cuba.”

“I deliberation the about important point would beryllium for them to understand and return this captious position, a sincere position, and admit really overmuch it has costs the Cuban group — and really overmuch they person deprived the American group from a normal narration pinch the Cuban people,” he added.

Díaz-Canel said Cuba is willing successful engaging successful speech and discussing immoderate taxable without conditions, “not demanding changes from our governmental strategy arsenic we are not demanding alteration from the American system, about which we person a number of doubts.”

The Cuban president’s comments travel arsenic tensions betwixt Cuba and the U.S. stay high. U.S. President Donald Trump called Cuba a “failing nation” past month, and said he’ll person “the honour of taking Cuba” soon.

In February, Trump besides said the U.S. was successful talks pinch Havana and raised the anticipation of  “a friends takeover,” without sharing specifications connected what that meant.

“The Cuban authorities is talking pinch us,” Trump said. “They person nary money. They person nary thing correct now. But they’re talking to us, and possibly we’ll person a friends takeover of Cuba.”

In consequence to Díaz-Canel’s comments Thursday, a White House charismatic said the Trump management is talking to Cuba and claimed that leaders of the state “want to make a woody and should make a deal.”

“Cuba is simply a failing federation whose rulers person had a awesome setback pinch the nonaccomplishment of support from Venezuela,” the White House charismatic said to Beritaja connected Thursday.

Last month, Trump said he could soon onslaught a woody pinch Cuba aliases return different action, pursuing protests successful the land nation’s superior arsenic its organization faces rolling blackouts, substance shortages and economical turmoil.

Díaz-Canel confirmed that the state was successful talks pinch the U.S.

“These ‌talks person been aimed astatine uncovering solutions done speech to the bilateral differences we person betwixt the 2 nations,” Díaz-Canel said successful a video aired connected authorities television, adding that he hoped the negotiations would move the adversaries “away from confrontation.”

Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, Cuba’s lawman premier minister, said successful an question and reply successful Havana that “Cuba is unfastened to having a fluid commercialized narration pinch U.S. companies” and “also pinch Cubans domiciled successful the United States and their descendants.”

— With files from BERITAJA’ Rachel Goodman and The Associated Press