The first secretary of the Cuban Communist Party, Raul Castro, called on Friday April 16 for a “Respectful dialogue” between Cuba and the United States, but without “Renounce socialism”.
The 89-year-old revolutionary was speaking in a speech at the Communist Party congress, which opened for four days in Havana on Friday. It will be the farewell for the leader, who has decided to leave his place to a new generation. He is due to cede the post of first secretary of the party to President Miguel Diaz-Canel, a 60-year-old civilian, on Monday.
Relations between Cuba and the United States, after a historic but ephemeral relaxation between 2014 and 2016, were again strained under the administration of Donald Trump, which severely reinforced the embargo in force since 1962.
Raul Castro denounced this “Economic war” whose “Declared aim of strangling the country and causing a social explosion”, according to images broadcast on state television. Dressed in a military uniform, Raul Castro received a standing ovation on his arrival at the congress by some 300 party delegates from all over the country who gathered in Havana for the occasion.