Castro will talk to US but

Castro will talk to US but
RORY CARROLL - Aug 12 2009 06:00

Cuba's President, Raul Castro, has offered to talk to the United States
and ease half a century of enmity following olive branches held out by
the Obama administration.

Castro said he wanted to respond to Washington's effort to recast
diplomatic relations, but insisted Cuba's communist system was solid and
would not be diluted. "We are ready to talk about everything but not to
negotiate our political and social system," he told the National
Assembly on Saturday.

The 78-year-old leader, who formally succeeded his ailing brother Fidel
last year, made the announcement amid grim economic news that will curb
spending on health and education, twin pillars of the 50-year-old
revolution.

The government warned of further austerity in the wake of hurricane
damage and a sputtering economy.

Castro said there was a chance for negotiations now that the White House
had toned down Bush-era hostility towards Havana. "It's true there has
been a diminution of the aggression and anti-Cuban rhetoric on the part
of the administration."

President Barack Obama has slightly eased the draconian US embargo
against the island, a policy from the Kennedy administration, and made
symbolic gestures such as stopping the electronic ticker from the US
mission in Havana which used to taunt Cuba's rulers with prodemocracy
slogans.

Butu Castro noted that the embargo remained in effect and he rejected
comments by the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, linking improved
relations with concessions from Havana. "With all due respect to Mrs
Clinton … they didn't elect me president to restore capitalism in Cuba,
nor to hand over the revolution.

I was elected to defend, maintain and continue perfecting socialism, not
destroy it," he said, to a standing ovation. He scorned those who
believed the Cuban regime would crumble once he, Fidel and other aging
revolutionary figures died, saying: "If that's how they think, they're
doomed to failure."

The US used to look forward to a so-called "poof moment", when the
communist system 144km off Florida collapsed upon Fidel Castro's death.
But when illness sidelined him three years ago, his younger brother
seamlessly took over.

CONTINUES BELOW

Raul Castro has offered to talk to Washington before, but doing so in a
National Assembly address gave the words added weight.

There was no immediate response from the US state department. "What we
have here is an important and continuing effort by Raul to signal that
discussions with the US are something he very much wants," said Larry
Birns, director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs think tank.

Castro will talk to US but … - Mail & Guardian Online: The smart news
source (12 August 2009)
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