US says it is open to talks with Cuba if it changes government

The United States says it is open to speaking with Havana about how it can make a political transition towards new leadership and end a decades-old trade embargo imposed since former leader Fidel Castro ‘s communist revolution in 1959 and the US’s recent blockade of the country.

“Cuba has a golden opportunity to place itself on an irreversible path towards a better future,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday in New York City. “We are prepared to be helpful in that regard if they are open to it.”

Washington has previously said that it wants a change in Cuba’s government. Since earlier this year, the US has additionally imposed an oil blockade that has put the country under severe pressure, dealing with fuel shortages and ongoing blackouts. Cuban officials have also blamed it on problems providing food and other basic needs for its population.

Rubio said Washington was willing to work with some Cuban leaders – those whose “hands are not stained with blood”, he said – but also acknowledged that some were “at least publicly quite recalcitrant”.

Rubio, the child of Cubans who fled the country before the revolution, said businesses and investors from the US, including the Cuban diaspora, were ready to step in and help the country transition its economy if progress was made on political reforms.

Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump called Cuba a “failed state,” and said his administration was willing to use military power against it when necessary, outlining a string of moves it has made in the region to protect Washington’s interests, including the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

“My administration is also seeking a fundamental change in the situation in Cuba,” Trump said. “Where the communist regime is under great pressure, the biggest pressure they’ve ever been under.”

Trump’s remarks prompted the Cuban delegation to walk out of the assembly.