Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel warned on Monday that a U.S. military attack on Cuba “will result in bloodshed with incalculable consequences” as tensions rise between Havana and Washington.
“Cuba poses no threat and has no offensive plans or intentions against any country. It has none against the United States and never has, and the Cuban government knows that well,” the leader said in a post on X.
Díaz-Canel added that Cuba “already suffers from a multifaceted invasion by the United States” and that it “has an absolute and legitimate right to defend itself against military attack,” but argued that this “cannot logically or honestly be used as an excuse to impose war on the noble Cuban people.”
Bilateral relations are at their worst level in decades due to renewed pressure from US President Donald Trump and a spiraling energy crisis on the communist-ruled island. Cuba’s energy minister said last week that last-minute oil donations from Russia had dried up and Cubans would have to endure further power outages.
In recent months, President Trump has often predicted the end of Castro’s regime in remarks to the press.
“They’re going to have to come to us,” Trump told Fox News in an interview broadcast Friday. “This is a failed state. A completely failed state.”
Sources say the United States is preparing to bring charges against former President Raul Castro, going beyond a years-long economic embargo and oil blockade that pushed the island’s energy crisis to its breaking point. The latest indictment would mark a significant escalation in the United States’ stance toward the Cuban government.
On Friday, Trump declined to comment on a possible lawsuit against Castro, saying: “I’ll let the Department of Justice comment on that, but you know they (Cubans) need help.”
Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on Monday’s X broadcast that Cuba “has a legitimate right to defend itself against any external aggression.”
“Those who seek to unjustly attack Cuba will use any pretext, no matter how deceptive or ridiculous, to justify an attack that goes against U.S. and world public opinion,” the official said.
The day before, Rodriguez wrote that the Trump administration was “daily crafting a fraudulent case to justify its relentless economic war and, ultimately, military invasion against the Cuban people.”
CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Havana last week for rare meetings with Interior Department officials and the heads of the island’s intelligence agencies.
For many Cubans, the possibility of a U.S. military attack feels imminent and they are preparing accordingly.
Anticipating such a scenario, Cuba’s Civil Defense Agency has distributed in recent days a “family guide on how to behave in the event of a hypothetical military invasion of Cuba,” recommending, among other things, preparing backpacks with non-perishable items.
The guide urges people to be alert to air raid sirens and is titled “Defend, Resist, Survive and Win”.
CNN’s Patrick Oppmann contributed reporting.
