HAVANA — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has lashed out after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested he can do “whatever he wants” with the island and that the U.S. could take “imminent action” against it.
Writing on the social platform X late Tuesday, Díaz-Canel said the Trump administration “publicly threatens” Cuba’s government almost daily with overthrowing it, and any act of aggression “will clash with an impregnable resistance.”
The comments come after the new threats by Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said the Cuban government’s socialist economic model needs to “change dramatically.”
While the Cuban government places heavy restrictions on the country’s private sector, decades of U.S. sanctions have crippled Cuba’s economy.
The Trump administration is looking for Díaz-Canel to leave as the U.S. continues negotiating with the Cuban government, according to a U.S. official and a source with knowledge of talks between Washington and Havana. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss sensitive talks.
No details have been offered about who the administration might like to see in power.
Trump’s comments on Cuba come after his administration’s military raid that captured then-President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, and the launch of U.S. military strikes against Iran.
The administration has effectively halted vital oil exports to Cuba, pushing the Caribbean nation to the brink.
The Cuban people Trump and Rubio say they want to help have been left reeling.
Overnight, activist groups from various countries delivered five tons of medical equipment and other aid, according to Cuban state television, while crippling blackouts plague the island.
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Seung Min Kim, Aamer Madhani and Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.
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