HAVANA -- (AFP) -- Cuba's foreign minister, Felipe Pérez Roque, said Friday his
 government would not start discussions with dissidents on the communist island
 nation, calling them ``employees'' of the United States.

 ``The Cuban government talks to the bosses, not the employees,'' Pérez Roque
 said at a press conference.

 During his recent visit to Venezuela, Cuba's president, Fidel Castro, invited that
 country's opposition politicians to come to Cuba and discuss their differences.

 Three Cuban dissidents issued a statement this week asking to be included.