Cuba-US talks stall as Havana pushes biggest market reforms despite sanctions

Havana,UPDATED: Jul 1, 2026 00:58 IST

Talks between Cuba and the United States are at a standstill, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on Tuesday, even as the island has approved a series of free-market reforms. He said the measures were not mentioned or discussed in earlier talks between the two countries.

Rodriguez said the reforms were a matter of Cuban sovereignty and criticised Washington for imposing fresh sanctions instead. Earlier this month, the United States announced new sanctions on Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, other officials and companies important to Cuba's struggling economy.

"The recently announced (measures) are a matter of total and absolute sovereignty," Rodriguez said. "We have neither listened to nor are we interested in the US government's opinion on them." He added that it was striking that the measures "were met with a new package of unilateral coercive measures... against Cuba".

Some of the sanctions were announced after Cuba's Communist Party and the Assembly of People's Power approved 176 economic measures, described as the biggest economic shift since the revolution. The measures align with some of the demands made by the United States, which is pressing for a change in Cuba's political and economic model. The reforms include more space for private businesses, free hiring of personnel, and permission for private banks and investment by Cubans living abroad.

Rodriguez said that while the conduct of US government officials in earlier talks was "generally respectful", it was accompanied by "constant aggressive statements against Cuba, threats of military aggression, and the imposition of additional coercive measures". The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

He made the remarks at a press conference where he announced a July 7 debate at the UN General Assembly on the energy embargo imposed by US President Donald Trump in late January. "The blockade and the policy of aggression and hostility of the United States government against Cuba are a threat to the existence and well-being of the Cuban people, and to the exercise of their human rights," Rodriguez said. He also said Cuba was not a threat to the United States, which he called "a major military and nuclear power".

Rodriguez said dialogue with Washington has stalled, Cuba's reforms remain its own sovereign decision, and fresh US sanctions and the energy embargo have added to the pressure on the island's economy, contributing to blackouts, fuel rationing, internet outages, transport suspensions and disruption to basic services.

With PTI Inputs

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