Cuba's president says he's 'not stepping down' in interview with NBC News - BERITAJA

Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel insisted that he’s not “stepping down” successful an question and reply pinch Beritaja’ “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker successful Havana connected Thursday.

The Cuban president bristled erstwhile Welker asked if he would beryllium “willing to measurement down to prevention your country” during his first question and reply pinch a U.S. broadcast network.

“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.

“Stepping down is not portion of our vocabulary,” Díaz-Canel said.

Watch “Meet the Press NOW” Thursday astatine 4 p.m. ET connected Beritaja for this interview, and “Meet the Press” connected Sunday for the extended exclusive question and reply and meetthepress.com for the afloat interview.

The Cuban president’s consequence comes arsenic the Trump management has been ratcheting up unit connected the communist state and calling for a alteration successful its government, pinch President Donald Trump calling Cuba a “failing nation” and saying last month, it whitethorn beryllium “a friends takeover, it whitethorn not beryllium a friends takeover.”

Last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Cuba a “disaster,” saying it’s because their “economic strategy doesn’t work.”

“Cubans could only beryllium successful if they time off the country,” said Rubio, whose parents near Cuba successful the 1950s, a fewer years earlier Fidel Castro’s communist takeover.

“That has to change, and for that to change, you person to alteration the group successful charge,” Rubio said, adding that this required changing the country’s economical model.

Díaz-Canel took rumor pinch being asked if he would measurement down, asking, “Do you inquire that mobility to Trump?“ and whether the mobility was “coming from the State Department of the U.S.?”

A pedicab drives past a postulation ray that is retired owed to a powerfulness outage successful Havana connected March 4.Yamil Lage / AFP - Getty Images

Díaz-Canel insisted the country’s leaders “are elected by the people, though there’s a communicative trying to disregard that. Any 1 of us, earlier we go portion of a activity role, we request to beryllium elected astatine the grassroot level successful our electoral territory by thousands of Cubans.”

Cuba’s communist government, however, is simply a one-party system that does not let for an guidance party. Candidates to the country’s National Assembly are chosen successful section elections, but critics constituent retired that location is nary reliable opposition, small transparency and each candidates person to beryllium to the Communist Party.

For the past mates of months, Cuba’s authorities has carried retired a media campaign, granting respective news outlets, including Beritaja, interviews pinch various authorities officials and addressing the mounting unit from the U.S. amid a adjacent economical collapse.

Cuban officials person denounced the Trump administration’s actions, which trim the travel of Venezuelan lipid shipments to the state aft the seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The U.S. also threatened tariffs against immoderate country trading aliases supplying lipid to Cuba. Oil reserves dwindled and created moreover much substance shortages, resulting successful much powerfulness outages crossed the full country.

Cubans stitchery successful beforehand of their houses during a blackout successful Havana connected March 16. Adalberto Roque / AFP via Getty Images

The conditions person further strained an land federation that for years has endured an economic crisis, rolling blackouts and shortages of nutrient and medicine.

Trump precocious said he had “no problem“ pinch the presence of a Russian tanker pinch crude oil, saying he didn’t deliberation it would thief prop up the Cuban government. It was the first tanker to dock successful 3 months. Russia said it is preparing a second lipid shipment to the island.

But that wasn’t capable arsenic the Cuban authorities and residents decry the existent lipid shortage and deficiency of different basal necessities, which Díaz-Canel and different officials person blamed on the much than 50-year-old U.S. economical embargo.

The Trump management has pushed backmost connected Cuba’s erstwhile statements. Rubio said connected March 27 that location “is nary naval blockade about Cuba” and the logic Cuba doesn’t person immoderate substance “is because it wants it for free and group don’t springiness distant lipid and substance for free unless it was the Soviet Union subsidizing them aliases Maduro subsidizing them.”

Díaz-Canel blamed U.S. policies for the existent authorities of the countries’ relationship.

“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.”

Trump said Rubio has been successful talks pinch Cuba, and Cuban officials person acknowledged talks without either authorities going into details.

Cuba's Deputy Foreign Minister Josefina Vidal told Agence France-Press this week that talks betwixt Cuba and the United States connected de-escalating tensions are still astatine a “very preliminary” stage.