Cuba rejects new US policy, expresses readiness for further dialogue

HAVANA -- Cuba's government rejected on Friday the newly announced US policy towards Cuba, but said it is open to continue dialogue with Washington on issues of mutual interest.

"Any strategy aimed at changing the political, economic and social system in Cuba, whether it aims to achieve it through pressure or imposition, or by using more subtle methods, is doomed to fail," the Cuban government said in a statement published in the state daily Granma.

US President Donald Trump earlier in the day announced he was "canceling" the rapprochement with Cuba spearheaded by his predecessor Barack Obama.

Trump's announcement "reverses the advances made in the past two years since Dec. 17, 2014, when presidents Raul Castro and Obama revealed their decision to restore diplomatic relations and begin the process of normalizing bilateral ties," said the statement.

Trump announced a return to restrictions on travel and trade, and "justified that policy with alleged concerns over the human rights situation in Cuba and the need to rigorously apply" the trade embargo and blockade against the island, which Obama had relaxed, it said, adding "once again the US government is resorting to the coercive measures of the past."

"Cuba rejects the manipulation with political purposes and the double standard concerning the issue of human rights," said the statement.

The Cuban government has defended the people's right to universal health and education services, among other social achievements, it said.

Saying it will issue a deeper analysis of the scope and implications of the about-face on foreign policy at a later date, the government added it "denounces the new measures to toughen the blockade, which are doomed to fail, as has been repeatedly shown in the past, and will not succeed in their goal to weaken the Revolution."

However, the Cuban government also made it clear that it is willing to continue "respectful dialogue" and cooperation with Washington on issues of mutual interest.

It vowed to take "any necessary risk" and continue the construction of a "sovereign, independent, socialist, democratic, prosperous and sustainable nation."