HAVANA, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Amid a fuel shortage sparked by the stepped-up U.S. sanctions, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said Wednesday that his country "will not swap dignity for fuel."
In comments posted on Twitter, the minister condemned the United States for strengthening its economic, trade and financial embargo against Cuba, which he said impacts all Cubans by undermining basic services.
The sanctions are also a violation of human rights, he said.
According to Rodriguez, U.S. election years are always difficult for Cuba, as sitting presidents try to appeal to Miami, which has a large Cuban expatriate community, by taking a tough stance against the Cuban government. Most of Miami's Cuban-Americans fled the island following the 1959 Revolution.
However, Rodriguez said their way of thinking is outdated because "today a majority of Cubans (in the United States) support the progress of normalizing ties."
