Cuban envoy in Kingston says sovereignty off-limits in US talks amid tighter sanctions

Cuba and the United States are still engaged in sensitive, low-profile government talks linked to the humanitarian strain affecting roughly 11 million Cubans, but Cuba’s ambassador to Jamaica, Tania Lopez Larroque, says one issue is completely excluded: regime change.

Speaking at a media briefing on Friday at the Cuban embassy in Kingston, Larroque said she does not have access to the detailed agenda of those discussions and reported no fresh official update.

She said Cuba’s citizens alone have authority to choose their leaders and determine constitutional reform, adding that national sovereignty is not a bargaining item.

“The Cuban people are determined to protect their democracy, their sovereignty, and their rights. We have the information you have already, probably seen by our government, that is the one that's been leading the public information on that, that we consider a really sensitive topic, and we have always been really discreet on that,” Larroque said.

She also told reporters Cuba has consistently signalled willingness to engage the US on what she called equal and fair terms, while maintaining that sovereignty-related matters are outside negotiations.

On the specific question of political change, she was emphatic: “Absolutely. That's not up for discussion. The political system of our country is up to our people, is up to our population. It's only for us to decide. That's not something that, not Cuba, not any other country would negotiate that with third parties…”.

Larroque used the briefing to reject executive orders signed by the US president on January 29 and May 1, arguing those steps intensify what she described as an economic, financial and commercial blockade.

According to the ambassador, the January order included tariffs on imports from countries that provide oil to Cuba, and she said only one tanker has arrived in about five months.

She further argued that these measures violate international law and the principles of free trade, and warned that pressure tactics aimed at third countries could endanger other independent states if they yield to coercion.

Larroque urged the wider international community to resist what she called illegal regulations, saying countries should not surrender sovereign equality or leave citizens, businesses and financial institutions exposed.

She added that Havana views the pressure campaign as an effort to worsen humanitarian conditions in a way that could be used to justify more dangerous steps, including military aggression, and said Cuba has endured sustained economic pressure for more than six decades.

Larroque also rejected the idea that Cuba should be labelled a failed state, pointing instead to the country’s ability to organize and deploy brigades internationally despite prolonged hardship.

Osvaldo Cardenas, a Cuban resident in Jamaica, said the impact is felt across daily life in Cuba and described the policy as criminal, while noting that most countries at the United Nations have repeatedly condemned the US blockade.

Paul Burke of the Cuba-Jamaica Friendship Society said Washington appears to be seeking a geopolitical win while facing negative fallout from the ongoing war with Iran. He argued the US expected mass unrest in Cuba after oil flows from Venezuela and Mexico were shut, but that this has not happened.

Burke said the past decades show two realities at once: deep social and economic pain for Cubans, and sustained determination among the population to defend democracy, sovereignty and national rights.

He also pointed to energy diversification efforts now under way with Chinese support, including wider solar deployment in public spaces and development of a solar facility in Matanzas.