Lula suggests Cuba-US negotiations to end the blockade

Brasilia, July 30 (RHC)--Former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defended creating a negotiating table between Cuba and the United States to lift the blockade and prevent attempts of interference by one country over the other.

During the first part of an interview granted to Mexico's Channel Eleven and broadcasted in Brazil by TVT 247, the founder of the Workers' Party affirmed that 'we have to understand 60 years of blockade. There is a lot of hatred accumulated by the Cubans of Miami against the Cubans of Cuba'.

He pointed out that, if there were not an iron siege by Washington, 'Cuba could be like Norway, Holland or Switzerland because it has very qualified people.

He considered that instead of exacerbating protests and announcing new restrictions, U.S. President Joe Biden should have suspended the 243 coercive measures adopted by his predecessor, Donald Trump, against the island.

Lula declared himself an admirer of the Cuban Revolution and recommended Biden to 'throw away the hatred accumulated for 60 years and call the Cuban government for talks'.

'Let's try for a negotiated solution. And see what can be done to remove the blockade', he remarked.

The negotiations would aim to end the U.S. economic, commercial and financial siege against the island that has lasted more than six decades.

The former labor leader also called for greater integration between Mexico and other Latin American countries, including Brazil.