Reuters: Cuba's Castro rebuts Trump at national assembly
HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban President Raul Castro on Friday denounced U.S. President Donald Trump's partial rollback of the U.S.-Cuban detente, saying it ignored broad public support for better relations and would satisfy only a few Cuban-American hard-liners.
In his first public riposte to Trump since the latter unveiled his new Cuba policy last month, Castro told the national assembly that any attempt to topple the revolution would fail, as it had under 11 previous U.S. presidents.
"We reject the manipulation of the topic of human rights against Cuba, that can be proud of much in this area, and does not need to receive lessons from the United States nor anyone," Castro was quoted as saying by state-run media Cubadebate.
Foreign media does not have access to the twice-yearly meetings of the national assembly.
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WNU Editor: For decades the Castro brothers maintained the position that because of U.S. sanctions .... Cuba can never economically prosper. President Obama's push to normalise relations .... coupled with him visiting the island nation and restoring diplomatic ties .... has changed that, and U.S. - Cuban tensions are now at a fraction of what they use to be during the Cold War .... but economically .... times in Cuba are just as tough. In fact .... life is getting harder .... Cuba's Newest Crisis: No Money To Buy Oil (June 15, 2017). When Russia's energy minister said publicly that Cuba was broke .... Russia's Energy Minister Admits That Cuba Is 'Broke' (May 30, 2017) .... that should have been a red flag for the Cuban leadership to change direction and policies. But they have not .... and I dare say that because of philosophical reasons .... they cannot. But the problem is the economy .... and it is not satisfying the needs and expectations of the people. The young want change .... and their parents are following suit because they do not want to see their children leave to the U.S. or elsewhere. Blaming the U.S. for Cuba's economic woes and daily electricity blackouts by an old Cuban leader in an army uniform may have worked in the past .... but if what I am hearing from my friends in Cuba are true .... that approach is no longer working .... and people are growing restless
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