**US President Barack Obama has replied to questions from dissident Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez about future US-Cuban relations.**Asked if he was prepared to hold direct talks with Cuba, the US president said he was not interested in “talking for the sake of talking”.
And he said it was up to Cuba to act if it wanted to normalise relations.
President Obama’s replies are published on the latest edition of the award-winning blog, Generacion Y.
Mr Obama said the US had no intention of using military force against Cuba, and that change on the island was up to the Cuban people.
‘Repressive system’
Ms Sanchez’s blog on the trials and tribulations of everyday Cuban life has won several major international journalism awards.
But the BBC correspondent in Havana says that recently, her postings appear to have become more political.
Last week she claimed she had been briefly detained and beaten by members of the state security forces, which prompted a letter of concern from the US state department.
In a report released this week, Human Rights Watch accused Cuban leader Raul Castro of perpetuating the repressive system of his brother Fidel.
The report said the authorities relied on a law which allows the state to jail people even before they commit a crime.
It documented more than 40 cases where individuals had been jailed for “dangerousness” for staging peaceful protests or organising independent trade unions.