Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel warned Monday {that a} US military assault on Cuba “will cause a bloodbath with incalculable consequences” amid renewed tension between Havana and Washington.
“Cuba poses no threat, nor does it have aggressive plans or intentions against any country. It has none against the US, nor has it ever had any, something the government of that nation knows well,” the chief mentioned in a put up on X.
Díaz-Canel added that Cuba “is already suffering a multidimensional aggression from the US” and that it “has the absolute and legitimate right to defend itself against a military assault,” although he maintained that this “cannot logically or honestly be used as an excuse to impose a war against the noble Cuban people.”
Bilateral relations are at one of their lowest factors in many years, with renewed strain from US President Donald Trump and a spiraling power disaster on the communist-run island. Last week, Cuba’s power minister said {that a} last-minute Russian oil donation had been exhausted, and that Cubans must endure extra energy cuts.
In latest months, Trump has typically predicted the tip of the Castro regime in remarks to the press.
“I think they’re going to have to come to us,” Trump told Fox News in an interview aired on Friday. “It’s a failed nation. It’s a totally failed nation.”
Beyond the longstanding financial embargo and an oil blockade that has pushed the island’s power disaster to its limits, the United States is getting ready an indictment towards former President Raúl Castro, in keeping with sources. The indictment would mark a major escalation within the US stance towards the Cuban authorities.
On Friday, Trump declined to touch upon the potential case towards Castro, saying that he’ll let the Justice Department “comment on it, but they (Cubans) need help, as you know.”
Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez mentioned on Monday on X that Cuba “has the right to legitimate self-defense against any external aggression.”
“Those who seek to illegitimately attack Cuba resort to any pretext, no matter how deceitful and ridiculous, to justify an attack that runs contrary to US and world public opinion,” the official wrote.
The day earlier than, Rodríguez wrote that the Trump administration “builds, day after day, a fraudulent case to justify the ruthless economic war against the Cuban people and eventual military aggression.”
The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John Ratcliffe traveled to Havana final week for a uncommon assembly with officers from the Ministry of the Interior and heads of the island’s intelligence providers.
For many Cubans, a possible US military assault feels imminent, and they are taking preparations accordingly.
In anticipation of such a situation, over the previous few days Cuba’s Civil Defense has circulated “a family guide on how to act during a hypothetical military aggression against Cuba,” recommending, amongst different issues, getting ready a backpack with non-perishable objects.
The information urges individuals to remain alert to air raid sirens and is titled “Protect, Resist, Survive, and Prevail.”
NCS’s Patrick Oppmann contributed reporting.