Cuban president travels to town near US military base at Guantanamo Bay

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel visited a town at the gates of the American naval base at Guantanamo Bay on Thursday and said President Donald Trump’s hardening of the US embargo would fail to force concessions from his government. “The Yankees keep squeezing but we keep resisting,” AP quoted the Cuban leader as saying.

Diaz-Canel was making his first trip to Caimanera, the closest point in Cuba to the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay. He began his visit to the town of about 10,000 people with a tour of a newly renovated 3D movie hall.

Since assuming power in April 2018, Diaz-Canel has made several dozen similar journeys around Cuba to check on public services and infrastructure.

A short walk from the gates of the base, which officials said he did not plan to see, Diaz-Canel told the crowd that the US appeared frustrated that a series of measures aimed at cutting tourism and petroleum to Cuba had not forced concessions from his government.