‘No conversations’ with US, says Cuban president after Trump threats

Cuba’s leader said on Monday there were “no conversations” with the United States, after US President Donald Trump urged the communist-ruled island to “make a deal” or pay the price.

“There are no conversations with the US government except for technical contacts in the area of migration,” Miguel Diaz-Canel wrote on social media after Trump said the nations were in talks following the US military toppling of Havana’s leftist ally Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela.

Díaz-Canel wrote that for “relations between the US and Cuba to progress, they must be based on international law rather than hostility, threats, and economic coercion.”

He added: “We have always been willing to hold a serious and responsible dialogue with the various US governments, including the current one, on the basis of sovereign equality, mutual respect, principles of international law, and mutual benefit without interference in internal affairs and with full respect for our independence.”

The US president told ‍reporters on Sunday that the US was “talking to ‍Cuba.” He did not specify what had been discussed in ‌the alleged conversations but said “you´ll find out pretty ‍soon.”

Washington has imposed economy-crippling sanctions on its island neighbour for decades, but Trump has ramped up the pressure in recent days.