Russia accused US President Donald Trump of “Cold War rhetoric” On Sunday after his partial reversal of three years of detente with Cuba.
A Russian Foreign Ministry statement said Mr Trump’s speech in Miami on Friday was "returning us to the forgotten rhetoric of the Cold War."
"It's clear the anti-Cuba discourse is still widely needed. This can only induce regret."
Mr Trump said he would order Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to convene a task force on expanding internet access in Cuba — an aim shared by the government but a possible indication of more smuggling of sophisticated telecoms equipment to dissidents.
And he reiterate US opposition to moves at the UN to lift the 55-year blockade of Cuba.
Mr Trump demanded Havana release “political prisoners” — and in the same breath that it extradite fugitives granted asylum there.
He named “cop killer Joanne Chesimard,” AKA Assata Shakur, the former Blank Panther who insists she was framed for a 1973 murder.
A Cuban Foreign Ministry statement issued within hours of the speech condemned the "ill-advised" moves and Washington’s “double standard” on human rights, saying: “The United States are not in the condition to lecture us.”
“We have deep concerns by the respect and the guaranties of the human rights in that country, where there is a large number of cases of murder, brutality and police abuse, particularly against the African Americans.”
It said tightening the blockade “will not achieve their purpose of debilitating the Revolution or submitting the Cuban people, whose resistance to the aggressions of any kind and origin has been proven throughout six decades.”
But Mr Trump also appeared to open the way to more talks when he urged Raul Castro’s government "to come to the table with a new agreement that is in the best interest of both their people and our people."
In Miami — where Mr Trump made the announcement — the anti-communist Cuban emigre community he courted in last year’s election was also unhappy, saying the changes didn’t go far enough.
Armando Valladares, who was jailed for 22 years in Cuba on terrorism charges and later made UN Human Rights Commission ambassador by former US president Ronald Reagan, said: “I am not satisfied with the way this was done."
"President Trump promised that he would repeal everything Obama had done with Cuba," he said. "That would have been consistent with his campaign.”
A Russian Foreign Ministry statement said Mr Trump’s speech in Miami on Friday was "returning us to the forgotten rhetoric of the Cold War."
"It's clear the anti-Cuba discourse is still widely needed. This can only induce regret."
Mr Trump said he would order Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to convene a task force on expanding internet access in Cuba — an aim shared by the government but a possible indication of more smuggling of sophisticated telecoms equipment to dissidents.
And he reiterate US opposition to moves at the UN to lift the 55-year blockade of Cuba.
Mr Trump demanded Havana release “political prisoners” — and in the same breath that it extradite fugitives granted asylum there.
He named “cop killer Joanne Chesimard,” AKA Assata Shakur, the former Blank Panther who insists she was framed for a 1973 murder.
A Cuban Foreign Ministry statement issued within hours of the speech condemned the "ill-advised" moves and Washington’s “double standard” on human rights, saying: “The United States are not in the condition to lecture us.”
“We have deep concerns by the respect and the guaranties of the human rights in that country, where there is a large number of cases of murder, brutality and police abuse, particularly against the African Americans.”
It said tightening the blockade “will not achieve their purpose of debilitating the Revolution or submitting the Cuban people, whose resistance to the aggressions of any kind and origin has been proven throughout six decades.”
But Mr Trump also appeared to open the way to more talks when he urged Raul Castro’s government "to come to the table with a new agreement that is in the best interest of both their people and our people."
In Miami — where Mr Trump made the announcement — the anti-communist Cuban emigre community he courted in last year’s election was also unhappy, saying the changes didn’t go far enough.
Armando Valladares, who was jailed for 22 years in Cuba on terrorism charges and later made UN Human Rights Commission ambassador by former US president Ronald Reagan, said: “I am not satisfied with the way this was done."
"President Trump promised that he would repeal everything Obama had done with Cuba," he said. "That would have been consistent with his campaign.”