Havana - Cuba´s Foreign Ministry has condemned remarks made by the vice president of the United States, Mike Pence,  describing them as aggressive and false.

Carlos Fernández de Cossío, Director of U.S. Affairs at the Foreign Ministry warned that with Pence´s position, the White House is only reminding Latin Americans that the 19th Century Monroe Doctrine and its hegemonic projection is as valid as it has always been.

In his speech before the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) in the US capital, Pence attacked Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, for which he urged member countries to exercise  'regional pressure', because they make up a 'dark cloud of tyranny' '

Fernández de Cossío, noted that the US vice president lies when he attributes to his country a long-standing commitment to Latin America´s democracy and freedom.

Speaking to prime time national television newscast, the diplomat condemned Pence´s assertion that the United States 'supports the people of Cuba'.

“These remarks come from the representative of a country that has intensified the blockade on the island, which seeks to stifle the economy and starve the Cuban people into submission”, Fernandez denounced.

Fernández de Cossío pointed out that Pence's intervention took place in OAS, an organization well known for its complicity with the most horrendous crimes in the continent, ranging from coups and brutal dictatorships to assassinations, torture and disappearances.

The Cuban diplomat described the statements by the US vice president as a new attempt by the United States to apply old methods designed to impede the development and independence of the nations of the hemisphere.

“He does not realize that Latin America has changed, that it’s a different continent, and that US policies will fail. Cuba will persist in its determination to build an independent, sovereign, socialist, democratic and sustainable country, and will also continue to support the construction of our America, an America which is caring and respectful of the diversity of its peoples”, Fernandez de Cossio stressed.