Havana, November 18 (RHC) -- Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla reiterated Saturday that Cuba has the will to build a respectful and civilized relationship with the U.S. government, but the latter lacks the political will to move in that direction.

During 2015 and 2016, even in 2017, we demonstrated that willingness and it was also found that it would be something possible and mutually beneficial, Rodriguez said, opening the IV Conference The Nation and Emigration, which will be in session until tomorrow at the capital's Palacio de Convenciones, with the attendance of some 400 Cubans living abroad.

Our spirit is to continue expanding and deepening ties with various sectors of the U.S. society, said the Cuban Foreign Minister, who said that this event will allow to reflect and exchange on important issues of the nation and about the links with the Cuban nationals living abroad.

The unrestricted respect for the sovereignty and independence of the Homeland and the common will to continue strengthening and diversifying our ties are premises that we share, he said.

He indicated that those present are aware that the island is going through a complicated economic situation, with visible social impacts that affect the standard of living, the satisfaction of needs, social services and the welfare of our people.

We are suffering the combined effect of the extreme tightening of the U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade, the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic impact of the global crisis and the ongoing international conflicts, he said.

He pointed out that this is taking place in the midst of a transforming and revolutionary process in the national economy, aimed at updating the socialist system, making it more efficient and adapting it to the current realities of the country and the world.

"It is a process that generates its own frictions and that we have undertaken conscious of its necessity and its risks, but certain that it was unavoidable and urgent, he assured and added that we have also encountered our own deficiencies, distortions and difficulties, on which we are working tirelessly, always thinking of the welfare of the people," he stressed.

After pointing out that the Cuban government maintains the firm commitment to safeguard social justice and protect as much as possible the equity that characterizes us, Rodriguez said that "we are convinced that we will find, with our own efforts, the way out of such a complex scenario".

He stressed that in the international arena Cuba enjoys broad relations with practically all countries, with most of them it has ties of friendship and cooperation, even with those governments that may have political or ideological differences.

Cuba has a high prestige and is recognized for its contributions in favor of peace, dialogue and understanding, he added and exalted that on the past 2nd, the General Assembly of the United Nations almost unanimously demanded the United States government to put an end to the blockade.

The Cuban Foreign Minister expressed that the great challenge in Cuba's foreign policy continues to be the hostility of the governments of the United States, their determination to deny our right to self-determination and to dominate our nation.

The fundamental and dominant element continues to be the blockade, which he described as a malicious purpose that was substantially expanded with the Helms-Burton Act and since 2019 has been reinforced even more and in an unprecedented manner.

He asserted that the arbitrary designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism added an extremely harmful effect with high costs and limitations for finances and trade.

"The asphyxiation caused by the blockade and the extreme measures of recent years constitute a massive, flagrant and systematic violation of the human rights of Cubans, continue to be the greatest obstacle to our development and have a direct and determining impact on the high migratory flows," he denounced.

This policy, he said, is accompanied by programs of destabilization and destruction of the constitutional order that the U.S. Congress finances with tens of millions of dollars, which includes interfering in the process of transforming the Cuban economy, pretending to artificially segment it and ignoring that it is a single one.

Rodriguez expressed his deepest gratitude to Cubans living abroad for their statements and fraternal help, so many times accompanied by that broad and universal movement of solidarity with Cuba, as well as for the donations received during the most critical stage of the Covid-19.   (Source:PL)