White House senior adviser on Latin America ruled out Cuba talks: “Biden is not Obama”

Juan González, the principal adviser for Latin America of the president of the United States, Joe Biden, assured that the current president “is not Barack Obama in the policy towards Cuba”, excluding for the moment a dialogue between Washington and the island.

“The political moment has changed significantly, the political space has been very closed, because the Cuban government has not responded in any way, and in fact the oppression against Cubans is even worse today than it possibly was under the (George W.) Bush administration (2001- 2009) ”, said González in an interview broadcast this Sunday by CNN in Spanish.

“Those who think the United States right now is going to enter into a multi-year dialogue with Cuba, I think they don’t understand the political moment and the situation we live in or, frankly, I would say the mess we inherited from the previous administration ”He added and observed that“ this is where perhaps the political capital or the time of this administration will not be invested initially ”.

González also justified that the United States does not respect the agreement to process 20,000 visas for Cuban immigrants per year, arguing that it seeks to ensure that American personnel in Havana are “safe”.

Washington has denounced attacks on its officials in Havana that allegedly took place between November 2016 and August 2017, which it initially characterized as acoustic, although it later admitted that its nature was not confirmed. Following these events, the White House in 2018 ordered the departure of non-essential staff from its embassy in Cuba, 60% of the total.

Asked about the possibility of a rapprochement with the government of Nicolás Maduro, González felt that the Venezuelan president should have a conversation about the future of his country with the opposition Juan Guaidó, whom the United States recognizes as the president by interim of this country. and with a broad front that this leader seeks to form with the participation of different sectors.

“We are not going to impose conditions on this process, it is a completely Venezuelan process,” said the official, who indicated that the Biden administration will seek in the United States to “depoliticize the situation towards Venezuela” to work with Democrats and Republicans to find a solution for this country.

Likewise, he defended the sanctions imposed by the United States on Venezuela and denied that they were the cause of the crisis in that country, which he attributed to Maduro and the late President Hugo Chávez. “What is happening to the Venezuelan people is an injustice, and it is not something that is the fault of the United States, it is something that is the fault of those who are in de facto power at the moment.” said the adviser, who subordinated any action that this entails lifting pressure on the Maduro government to form a new National Electoral Council (CNE).

Gonzalez begins today a regional tour in Colombia, Argentina and Uruguay that will continue until April 15 with Julie Chung, senior diplomat of the region of the Department of State. This is the first official trip by officials to South America.

Through a comunicado de la vocera del Consejo de Seguridad Nacional, Emily Horne, met details of the agenda of los oficiales: “In Bogotá, debatirán sobre recuperación económica, seguridad y desarrollo rural, la crisis migratoria venezolana y el liderazgo climático Columbia. In Argentina and Uruguay, they will discuss regional priorities, including addressing the challenges of the climate crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic and threats to democracy, human rights and security in our hemisphere and in the world. “.

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