HAVANA (AP) — Cuban PresidentMiguel Díaz-Canelsaid Thursday that whileCubadoes not want military aggression from the United States, his country is prepared to fight should it happen.
Cuba Anniversary
Díaz-Canel spoke during a rally that drew hundreds of people to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the declaration of the Cuban Revolution’s socialist essence.
“The moment is extremely challenging and calls upon us once again, as on April 16, 1961, to be ready to confront serious threats, including military aggression. We do not want it, but it is our duty to prepare to avoid it and, if it becomes inevitable, to defeat it,” Díaz-Canel said.
He spoke astensions remain highbetween the two countries, withCuba’s crises deepeningas a result of a U.S. energy blockade.
Earlier this week, Trump said his administration could focus on Cuba after thewar in Iranends.
“We may stop by Cuba after we finish with this,” he said. He described it as a “failing nation” and asserted that it’s “been a terribly run country for a long time.”
Trump previously has threatened to intervene in Cuba, like he did in early January whenthe U.S. military attacked Venezuelaand halted key oil shipments from the South American country.
Weeks later, Trumpthreatened tariffson any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba.
Both Trump and U.S. Secretary of StateMarco Rubio— whose parents emigrated from Cuba in the 1950s before the revolution — have described the island’s government as ineffective and abusive. The U.S. demands on Cuba's government in return for easing sanctions have included an end to political repression, a release of political prisoners and a liberalization of the island's ailing economy.
Díaz-Canel accused them of trying to construct a “narrative” that has no justification.
Advertisement
“Cuba is not a failed state. Cuba is a besieged state. Cuba is a state facing multidimensional aggression: economic warfare, an intensified blockade and an energy blockade,” said Díaz-Canel, the main speaker at Thursday’s rally.
“Cuba is a threatened state that does not surrender. And despite everything. And thanks to socialism. Cuba is a state that resists, creates, and make no mistake, a state that will prevail,”Díaz-Caneladded.
Both Cuba and the U.S.have acknowledged talksto resolve the tension, but no details have been disclosed.
The Cuban president recalled the achievements made possible by the revolution and its social welfare system, which allows for free education that has trained thousands of professionals, many of whomhave chosen to emigratedue to the country's economic crisis.
The oil embargo imposed by Trump worsened thealready harsh conditionsbrought on by an economic crisis that has lasted for five years, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and a tightening of U.S. sanctions aimed at pressuring for a change in the island’s political model.
Experts have warned of a humanitarian crisis.
Measures to prevent the island from acquiring oil from its Venezuelan, Mexican and Russian suppliers are exacerbating the already poor living conditions of the population, includingprolonged blackoutsand fuel shortages.
The rally commemorated the 65th anniversary of a historic speech by the late leader,Fidel Castro, during a crisis with the United States. That moment marked the ideological course the Caribbean nation would take and its opposition to Washington’s continental hegemony.
Follow AP’s Latin America coverage athttps://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
