US President Donald Trump said Monday, April 13, at the White House, that his administration could “focus on Cuba” once the war with Iran is over. “It’s possible we’ll make a stop in Cuba after we finish this,” he said.
Trump had been questioned about the decision to sanction any nation that “sells or supplies” oil to the Caribbean country. The Republican reiterated his intention to maintain the imposed energy restrictions, although, at the end of March, he announced that he would evaluate fuel shipments to Cuba on a case-by-case basis.
In his usual tone, Trump again criticized the Cuban government’s handling of the situation, stating that the country “has been terribly mismanaged for a long time.” At the same time, in a nod to his electoral base in Florida, he declared: “And we have many excellent Cuban-Americans, most of whom voted for me.”
“Defending sacred independence and sovereignty”
Trump’s new statements come just days after Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez reiterated on Sunday, April 12, that the island is willing to negotiate “without pressure or attempts at intervention from the United States”.
In an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” – the first interview given by the Cuban president to a US television network – Díaz-Canel expressed a willingness to maintain a “respectful” dialogue with the United States.
“As lovers of peace and social justice, of life and joy, Cubans are always open to respectful dialogue and ready to defend their sacred independence and sovereignty,” the president stated.
However, he warned that Cuba is prepared for a possible attack from the United States. He said that the responsibility of the country’s leaders implies “the conviction of being willing to give their lives for the Revolution” and “for the cause” they defend.
“We will defend ourselves, and if we have to die, we will die,” he emphasized, stating that if Washington attacks the country, Cuba will defend itself.
“If that happens, there will be battles, there will be fighting; we will defend ourselves and, if we have to die, we will die, because, as our national anthem says: ‘To die for the fatherland is to live’,” he declared.
The Cuban president also stated that the population would be prepared to resist external aggression , insisting on their readiness for national defense in case of conflict. Furthermore, he maintained that there is no justification for a US military intervention, nor for actions such as a “surgical operation” or the “kidnapping of a president,” referring to possible scenarios of pressure or regime change.
First published by Brasil de Fato in Portuguese.
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