WASHINGTON — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel revealed that his island nation is bracing for an attack from the US and declared that he is willing to die resisting President Trump.
Since last December, the US has imposed a blockade around Venezuela as part of its Operation Southern Spear effort, and used that to cut off oil supplies to Cuba, which has since plunged further into an energy crisis.
“I don’t think there would be any justification for the United States to launch a military aggression against Cuba, or for the US to undertake a surgical operation or the kidnapping of a president,” Díaz-Canel told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, per a translation.
“If that happens, there will be fighting, and there will be a struggle, and we will defend ourselves, and if we need to die, we’ll die, because as our national anthem says, ‘dying for the homeland is to live.’”
The Trump administration has privately signaled to Cuba’s communist government that Díaz-Canel must go, the New York Times reported.
Díaz-Canel, the first pol outside the Castro family to lead the island nation since the Cuban Revolution, has refused to step aside.
“I have no fear. I am willing to give my life for the revolution,” he claimed. “I wouldn’t like that to be the attitude of the US government.”
Cuba has endured an increase in blackouts in recent weeks as concerns flare that its food supplies are running dangerously low. Experts have noted that many of those issues predated the blockade, but have acknowledged that it has gotten worse since the US cut off crude exports to Cuba.
“We have the accumulated effects of the blockades, plus the effect of the tightening of the blockade, and now the effects are caused by this energy blockade. And I can say this responsibly to you, this is not the fault of the Cuban government,” Díaz-Canel said.
“We conduct very self-critical analysis and assessments of our reality, and we’re trying to constantly transform and change what we do in order to improve what we do.”
Díaz-Canel called the prospect of cutting a deal with the US “very difficult” and pointed to the strikes against Iran during negotiations over its nuclear program as evidence that America can’t be trusted.
The US has demanded that Cuba release its political prisoners, allow multi-party elections and permit a free press.
The Cuban leader denied receiving those demands and emphasized that fundamental reforms to his country’s government “are not under negotiations.”
Cuba has faced widespread protests and riots due to the growing energy and food crisis, prompting a brutal crackdown from its repressive government.
