Restoring US-Cuban ties will not affect relations between Havana and Moscow, Fidel Castro’s niece says

MOSCOW, July 7. /TASS/. Restoring Cuban-US ties will not affect relations between Havana and Moscow, Fidel Castro’s niece Mariela Castro Espin, deputy of the Cuban parliament, told TASS in an exclusive interview on Tuesday. "Restoration of relations between Cuba and US will in no way negatively affect Cuba’s relations with Russia or any other country," she noted. "Relations between Cuba and US depend on political will of the two countries. We value our historical friendship," Castro Espin stressed. Normalization of US-Cuban relations The fact that Cuba and US opened embassies in each other’s capitals does not mean full normalization of relations between the two countries, it requires lifting economic embargo from the island country to restore ties, Fidel Castro’s niece continued. "The start of normalization process of relations between Cuba and US became the result of enormous work based first of all on principles of ethics and respect, upon which Cuba insisted to launch the process of restoring relations," Castro Espin said. "The fact that embassies opened in our countries does not mean that the relations have been fully restored. For this, it is necessary to lift economic, financial and trade blockade which has not been lifted yet," she noted. Castro Espin said restoration of ties between Cuba and US "will benefit both Cubans and Americans." "Americans showed great interest in visiting Cuba, maintaining connections, investing," she said, adding that "the people and government of Cuba were always ready for that, but US government’s distaste prevented it from happening." Read more