Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has criticized the United States for intensifying its embargo at a time when Cuba is facing a surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths. “The Biden administration policy toward Cuba today has been the Trump administration policy toward Cuba,” says Carlos Fernández de Cossío, director general for U.S. affairs in the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He says Cuba also rejects U.S. claims about “Havana syndrome,” the name given to mysterious neurological symptoms some American diplomats and CIA officers say they have experienced in foreign postings, including in Cuba. “The U.S. government has no answer to explain what has happened,” says Fernández de Cossío. We also speak with Fernández de Cossío about the U.S.’s “double standard” in its treatment of refugees, and the brutal tactics being used against Haitian asylum seekers along the border.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.