Q&A: ‘US ties reopened but normal relations a long way off’

BANGKOK (The Nation/ANN) - Marcelino Medina Gonzalez, Cuba’s Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, discusses his country’s relationship with Thailand and its recent re-establishment of diplomatic ties with the United States, in a revealing interview with Suthichai Yoon, Nation Multimedia Group’s editorial board adviser.

Q: Most Thai people associate Cuba with cigars, Che Guevara, Fidel Castro and not much else. So how would you better explain Cuba?

A: Cuba is a small country but dignified. It has struggled for many years to obtain independence and to defend it afterwards. Cuba was the last colony of Spain in Latin America. When Cuba was about to win the war [against Spanish colonisers] in 1898, America intervened, which caused Cuban independence to fail.

A renewed state struggle culminated in 1959 when Fidel Castro led a revolution with figures such as Che Guvara and our current president, Raul Castro. After the triumph of the revolution on Jan 1, 1959, the new state faced [hostile] action from the US. One well-known action was [the Bay of Pigs] invasion in 1961, where in 72 hours the American army was defeated by the Cuban people and army. From that moment, the US began to implement ... measures against Cuba in areas of trade and the economy.

For instance, they interrupted the purchase of sugar from Cuba and they stopped buying oil – [part of] a blockade in August 1962 that has lasted for more than 50 years. Despite those difficulties, Cuba kept struggling and has developed its human resources. The US promoted doctors’ departure from the country, so at the end [of the revolution] we had only 3,000 doctors.

Now we have 75,000 doctors, and more than 3,000 are serving abroad. Cuba sent 256 doctors to Africa to fight Ebola. Cuba is a country with a well-developed biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector. In fact we are working now to establish a joint venture with a consortium from Thailand.

The infant mortality rate in Cuba is only 4 per cent. Our country has been able to eliminate illiteracy and has helped eradicate it elsewhere in Latin America. In summary, we can say that Cuba is a country that has struggled and we are still struggling. Yet in spite of difficulties, we continue to develop and to do everything we can to help other countries.

Something I need to show Thailand is that we are developing tourism. We are not at the same level as Thailand, [as we get] only 3.5 million visitors a year, but it is an area we can work on together. We only see 3,000 Thai visitors to Cuba per year and we would like to get a lot more. We have some problems of connection, but by December flights from China to Havana via Toronto [will be operated by] the first Asian airline to service Havana.

Q: Now that President Barack Obama has announced the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba, has the US blockade been lifted?

A: No, the blockade remains in place. The December 17 statement was to establish embassies in our respective capitals. Normalisation of relations is a long and complex process. So, we have closed the initial chapter and begun the new stage of negotiation … to achieve the objective of lifting the blockade.

Q: Why is the blockade significant?
A: Cuba cannot sell any products to the US. Cuba cannot use US dollars in its international transactions. Cuba cannot buy any products from the US, except some foodstuffs, agriculture products and medicines, but each importer needs to apply for a licence. Cuba has to pay in cash for such imports. We cannot use our own ships to transport the goods but must use US ships. And since we cannot sell anything to them, the ship has to go back empty to the US, which makes the freight more expensive.

Third countries’ ships that call in at Cuban ports are not able to visit any US port for the next six months. That deters other countries from trading with Cuba. Cuba cannot buy products from third countries that have more than 10 per cent of US content or technology. So we cannot buy any robot technology from Europe because it has more than 10 per cent American parts.

Q: Can Cubans visit the US?
A: Ordinary Cubans can go to the US as tourists. Most of them want to go to visit their relatives in the US, [where] more than one million Cubans live. From our government side, there is no restriction against Cubans going back and forth between the US and Cuba.

Q: Are you afraid that Cuba will be Americanised by an influx of US culture when the blockade is lifted?
A: No … we are ready to meet that potential challenge and to see opportunities for our society and people.

Q: Are young Cubans more Westernised than your generation?
A: Young people of Cuba are living according to the times.
The digital world has reached Cuba now and the young generation are now digital. It’s a part of globalisation. And globalisation has both a negative and positive side: it’s up to you to take benefit from it, and we believe that we can take advantage of this for development. We have some restrictions in this regard due to financial problems. Yes, of course we can have iPhones … but not from American providers since they are still prohibited [due to the blockade].

Q: How is the health of Fidel Castro now?
A: He is in good health. He is 89 years old but retains the same mental and political calibre. Happily for fans of Fidel – and we know a lot of people in the world are fans of Fidel – he is in good health.

Q: What exactly is Fidel’s role right now?
A: He has retired to private life. He studies a lot and sometimes writes articles for the press but he lives distant from public life. And this is something we have to respect.

Q: Does he give advice to President Raul?
A: Years ago when Raul Castro was selected as president, he requested parliament’s authorisation for him to consult Fidel on issues where he deems his advice necessary.

Q: What did Fidel say about the re-establishing of relations with the US?
A: Fidel has not made any public statement about this process.

Q: I’m sure President Raul must have consulted Fidel before making the decision, because Fidel stood so strongly against America when in power. Am I right?
A: That’s your own speculation (laughing).

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