Cuba Rejects Talks with U.S. as Embargo Deepens Crisis and Blackouts

Cuba says it is not negotiating with the United States amid a record economic toll from the embargo, which Havana estimates at $8 billion in the past year and which has contributed to severe electricity shortages; Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez calls the blockade genocidal and says the intention is to pressure Cuba, as energy sanctions and other measures worsen daily life and a UN General Assembly vote to end the embargo looms in late October.