Deputy Foreign Minister Abelardo Moreno
HAVANA, CUBA (ACN) — Cuba will not accept unilateral solutions that do not satisfy its interests, Cuban deputy foreign minister Abelardo Moreno said in Havana, referring to talks with the U.S. on mutual compensation.
The government official pointed out at a press conference that Cuba made it clear during last Thursday’s meeting with representatives of the U.S. administration that this is a two-way process and stressed that, in Cuba’s opinion, there should be recognition of the integrity of the process in order to conclude it on favorable terms.
Moreno added that the U.S. is demanding compensation for economic damages due to the nationalization laws after the revolution, and which, according to Washington, affected the country’s citizens and companies. On the Cuban side, there are two demands against the U.S. for human and economic damages amounting to over $300 billion.
The Cuban deputy foreign minister added that the exchanges are aimed at achieving mutual compensation between Cuba and the United States and which is included within the process toward the normalization of relations that began over a year ago with the reestablishment of diplomatic ties. But, Moreno said, this is a very complex political, technical and legal issue because there are a lot of elements at stake.
The U.S. embargo against Cuba that has lasted over five decades and has affected the development of the country and inflicted huge economic and human losses, is one of the elements that makes the negotiations on compensation more complex, Moreno said.
The two Cuban demands for human and economic damages date back to 1999 and 2000, and the legal concepts are in accordance with the practice and international law, the deputy minister said.
He expressed since the first nationalization laws were passed, the revolutionary government had committed to compensate foreigners whose properties were passed on to the Cuban people and, although in the case of the U.S., there were formulas to assess the compensation, the attitude of the U.S. administration at the time impeded such action taking place.
Cuba approved compensation to Canada and other European nations in the 1960s.
The two informative meetings on mutual compensation in December and July have allowed professional, constructive negotiations with an exchange of information and experiences, formulas and timetable in the negotiating process. And Moreno said that the conditions are set to continue the process.
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