Washington - The economic, commercial and financial blockade of the US against Cuba is the main obstacle for the normalization of relations between Havana and Washington, said the Cuban ambassador here, Jose Ramon Cabañas.

The Cuban diplomat gave an interview to the journalist Edmundo Garcia, which was broadcasted yesterday in the program 'La tarde se mueve', in Miami, where he talked about important issues of bilateral interest.

Cabañas reiterated that the first and most important issue is the economic, commercial and financial blockade of the USA against Cuba for over half a century. In addition, he added that on Wednesday morning it will be carried out again the vote on the United Nations, where the international community will express its opinion.

'This is the main obstacle to the normalization of relations with Cuba. There are others which we have expressed publicly and repeatedly, the very existence of the Guantanamo Naval Base against the will of the people of Cuba, and the specific and illegal transmissions against Cuba', he said.

'There is a group of programs that have a subversive essence in order to change the state of things in Cuba. Such programs continue to be funded in the US annual budget,and we have expressed more than once our rejection to them'.

In the Cuban ambassador's opinion, these are issues 'that will continue to come up and with which we will have disagreements' and added that recently in Havana another round of talks about Human Rights was held, 'where our positions differ' and these are subjects we will continue talking about, apparently for a long period.

He also made reference to the Presidential Policy Directive recently announced, which sets out the main points of the US policy towards Cuba in the future.

He reaffirmed that 'Cuba has faced it all, an economic war, a military war, media campaigns and even the introduction of diseases in our country to kill pigs and human beings'.

'From Cuba- he insisted- we say we are ready, if the disagreement is in the field of the ideas, so be it, because we are a country that loves peace and has excellent relations with neighbor nations, but at the same time, we are ready to defend our sovereignty and accept the challenges'.

PROCESS OF RELATION NORMALIZATION BETWEEN CUBA -US.

The Cuban ambassador to the US said that Havana and Washington reached a point in their relations where both parties want no reversal, and it will be a mutual interest to preserve what has been accomplished.

Cabañas stressed that there is also a mutual interest to lead these relations into the future, and 'we will always have the will to continue talks with officials who have the responsibility to continue them from a perspective of mutual respect and reciprocity '.

The diplomat explained that the US authorities have said the new relations, the new policy and new steps towards Cuba have created a new context in their regional relations.

The most relevant throughout this period-Cabañas added- has been the dialogue of mutual respect, which has developed with complete reciprocity. From the beginning we knew there was a group of subjects on which we could reach agreements more quickly, and others that take longer.

From the first moment we talked about two stages-he pointed out- to restore relations, which we did on July 1st, 2015, and other issues that have to do with the normalization of relations, which was a longer period of time.

It has been publicly reported- he added- that conversations have been held to reach some kind of cooperation in 19 different areas, ranging from the protection of marine areas, restoration of direct flights, postal mail, and health.

He noted that recently it was signed the last of the understanding memorandums between Cuban and US authorities on cancer and these are already 13 in different areas that reflect the themes of cooperation, besides the bilateral commission that establishes a kind of route to lead negotiations well as on which subjects.

The head of the Cuban diplomatic mission in Washington said that in September the economic dialogue was established, which will have four sub-groups to discuss a variety of issues, and there is another negotiation table that has to do with the issues of law application and in which a group of leading agencies from both sides participate.