15:57.- Rodríguez responds to Granma journalist Sergio Gómez, acknowledging that allowing a Cuban to work, perform or in the United States is an elementary right. A selective, measure has been eliminated, he said, but discrimination against Cuban workers continues given that they will not be in a position to comply with Cuban law
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15:55.- He recalls that Cuba has no restrictive policy regarding the United States. Cuba has made important changes in the area of foreign investment, most importantly the opening of the Mariel Special Development Zone, in an effort to improve the Cuban people’s wellbeing.
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15:53.- Rodriguez answers that Cuba has been undertaking changes continually which are demanded by Cuban society. Cuba is a country in permanent change, transformation, to move toward a more productive, efficient economy, toward more just social policies.
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15:48.- The correspondent asks about Cuban companies making purchases in the United States.
15:45.- Questions from the press are being taken. AP correspondent Andrea Rodríguez begins.
15:40.- Rodríguez announced President Obama’s program of activities in Cuba. According the planned schedule, he will visit the Catedral de La Habana; pay tribute to the country’s national hero, José Martí; and hold talks with President Raúl Castro, in addition to meeting with Cuban enterprise leaders, and presenting a speech to the Cuban people from the Teatro Alicia Alonso.
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15:37.- Cuba is not obliged to renounce a single one of its principles, or its foreign policy, the minister said, and hopes that the U.S. Congress will definitively lift the blockade.
15:35.- The foreign minister emphasized, on the eve of this important visit, that Cuba has taken on a new relation with the United Status based on justice and mutual respect. This relation does not imply that on the negotiating table are internal changes, which are and will be the sovereign purview of our people.
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15:33.- Regarding Cuban foreign policy, Rodríguez expressed the country’s firm support to President Nicolás Maduro and the people of Venezuela, and insisted in the name of the Cuban government, that the Executive Order which describes the country as a threat to the U.S. be eliminated, saying that the order is arbitrary and absolutely unjustified.
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15:30.- The blockade has been and continues to the most basic and harsh cause of depravations for the Cuban people. This is one of the questions which is fundamental to the normalization of our relations with the United States, as is the return of territory illegally occupied in Guantánamo.
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15:29.- Cuba appreciates and recognizes the call made by President Obama on Congress to end the blockade arbitrarily imposed on Cuba for more than half a century, Rodríguez continued.
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15:27.- Bruno Rodríguez said that significant differences exist with Washington in terms of political systems, democracy, human rights, the application of international law and conceptions of sovereignty, and the protection of international peace and sovereignty.
15:25.- “The economic, financial and commercial blockade significantly limits the level of transactions between Cuba and the United States, as U.S. authorities have acknowledged, “ Bruno Rodríguez stresses.
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15:23.- The reality is that the blockade remains in full force, despite the announcements made 48 hours ago.
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15:20.- The salaries and compensation now authorized for Cuban artists and athletes in the U.S. are not in line with Cuban tax regulations. These form part of ridiculous regulations seeking to ensure that the Cuban state cannot use these payments to benefit the Cuban people, Rodríguez tells reporters gathered at the Hotel Tryp Habana Libre.
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15:17.- The Cuban Foreign Minister poses the question as to why U.S. citizens are prohibited from purchasing Cuban products. He also condemns the fact that Cuban produced medicines, such as that for treating diabetic foot, are not available to patients in the United States.
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15:15.- Cuban Foreign Minister: The only amendment in terms of the purchasing of Cuban products was regarding the absurd prohibition on U.S. citizens purchasing and consuming Cuban products in third countries.
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15:13.- Rodríguez explains that while financial persecution continues, the charge will remain in place. Only once guarantees are made regarding the use of the dollar in Cuba´s international transactions will the charge be removed.
15:11.- This charge was established for the use of U.S. dollars in cash in 2004, as a measure in response to the financial persecution suffered by Cuba, the Foreign Minister explains.
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15:11.- Bruno Rodríguez announces that the Cuban government will remove the current 10% charge applied to the use of the U.S. dollar in Cuba.
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15:10.- On March 15, the U.S. Departments of Treasury and Commerce announced new amendments to certain aspects of the application of the blockade. This was the fourth announcement regarding amendments since December 17, 2014, when the presidents of both countries announced the decision to begin a process of normalization of relations between Cuba and the United States.
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15:10.- Another of the significant amendments announced is the use of the U.S. dollar by Cuba in international transactions, however, in order for this to be viable, the U.S. government must provide guarantees to both U.S. banks and those in other countries that they will not face penalties for processing Cuban transactions.
15:08.- Cuban Foreign Minister notes that the measures announced by the U.S. government, despite their advantages, make no real difference to the blockade imposed against the island,
15:05.- U.S. citizens should not be prohibited from visiting Cuba as tourists, Rodríguez Parrilla states.
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15:00.- Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla about to begin press conference regarding the visit by the President of the United States Barack Obama to Cuba this Sunday.
