The Cuban president defended his country’s 176 economic reforms and rejected U.S. demands.

In an interview with Folha de São Paulo on Sunday, President Miguel Diaz-Canel highlighted that Cuba is permanently prepared to face a U.S. military intervention. In this context, the 176 economic reforms recently approved by the Cuban National Assembly seek to strengthen the national economy and are not concessions to the United States or an abandonment of the process of building socialism.

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“The 176 economic measures announced are the result of a debate on improvements that has been underway for more than 10 years,” he said, defending the incorporation of different economic actors as a way to increase production, attract investment and generate resources for development.

Among the measures are those that promote greater participation by the private sector, new possibilities for foreign investment and the opening to investment by Cubans residing abroad.

However, Diaz-Canel recalled that the main means of production remain in the hands of the state and that new economic actors must contribute to the goal of increasing production and generating benefits for the population.

He also emphasized that social justice remains a central principle of the Cuban Revolution and denied that the measures respond to demands from Washington.

“The United States does not have the moral compass to ask us for concessions, nor are we willing to make them,” Diaz-Canel stressed, pointing out that the reforms underway are part of a national process of economic improvement and not a negotiation with the U.S. government.

#Cuba Resiste y Vencerá…#CubaEstáFirme pic.twitter.com/k7DAigz5Yx

— 𝕽𝖔𝖇𝖊 𝕮𝖚𝖇𝖆 ® (@CubaRobe) August 24, 2026

The text in the image reads: “Cuba does not surrender!”

Cuba Faces Possible U.S. Military Intervention

Regarding the possibility of a U.S. military intervention on the island, Diaz-Canel considers that anything can be expected from the administration of President Donald Trump.

“Cuba is a country of peace,” he emphasized, but warned that his nation is prepared for any attack because there is a constant rhetoric of threats.

“We have no other alternative but to resist,” he said, reiterating that the Cuban nation will not surrender in the face of U.S. coercive measures.

Cuba Is Victim Of A Silent Genocide

Diaz-Canel agreed with assessments made by international organizations, and even by U.S. lawmakers, that highlight that U.S. sanctions are turning Cuba into a “silent Gaza.”

“We are subjected to a policy of maximum pressure by the U.S. government. They are imposing a multidimensional war on Cuba: ideological, cultural, economic and media,” he said, denouncing that the Trump administration seeks to economically suffocate Cuba to provoke a social explosion.

“They expect the people, as a consequence of discontent and accumulated deprivation, to break with the Cuban government, which would supposedly lead to the fall of the Revolution that they so longed for and expected.”

Diaz-Canel then recalled that Cuba is “a nation that has long been subjected to an economic blockade, not by just any state but by the world’s greatest power, which controls trade, finance and the economy.”

During his first term (2017-2021), Trump imposed more than 240 arbitrary measures against Cuba. Then, during his second term, he has implemented successive packages of sanctions and an oil blockade.

“They included us on a list of countries that supposedly support terrorism, which is false. This excluded us from the entire global economic and financial relations system,” Diaz-Canel recalled, adding that during Trump’s current term, the blockade was internationalized through the mechanism of secondary sanctions, which punishes companies from any other country that have commercial relations with Cuba.

“In seven months, only one Russian oil tanker entered our country carrying 100,000 tons of crude oil as humanitarian aid. Since then, no more fuel has entered, which has worsened the situation and affected the lives of Cubans,” Diaz-Canel said.

“Without energy, there is no electricity, water or transportation. Family life becomes more difficult. Confinement paralyzes the economy. No one in the world can survive without energy. They have built a network of sanctions and coercive pressures that restricts the country’s functioning. This is becoming genocide,” he denounced.

This’s Cuba and there’s no electricity

The U.S is starving millions of people in Cuba. The U.S. is laying siege cruelly cut off all fuel, power is out, leaving hospitals without electricity. Dialysis patients, babies in NICU, and others will die. This’s a crime against humanity. pic.twitter.com/z983v2NP1j

— Mohamad Safa (@mhdksafa) May 18, 2026

From Megawatt Shortages To Child Deaths

“Because of Trump’s oil blockade, we cannot use 1,400 megawatts daily because of a lack of fuel. If we had used that capacity, the problematic and prolonged blackouts occurring in Cuba would have been reduced to approximately three hours a day,” Diaz-Canel stated.

“We lack the energy necessary for family life, production processes and health, education and transportation services,” he added, specifying that there is currently a waiting list of more than 98,000 patients for surgeries, including 12,000 children.

There are also more than 117,000 cancer patients, including approximately 1,200 children, who are not receiving cancer treatment, and more than 3,000 people who have difficulty obtaining hemodialysis treatment.

“There are already more than 64,000 children with delays in their vaccination schedules, which is unprecedented. Infant mortality, which was four to five deaths per 1,000 live births, a rate typical in developed countries, has more than doubled. These are infant deaths. Deaths that could have been prevented, since we know how to prevent them,” the Cuban president said.

Currently, due to U.S. pressure on shipping companies, which have been threatened by Trump if they transport goods to Cuba, “we have thousands of containers in different ports around the world that are not reaching the country,” Diaz-Canel denounced.

He explained that the stranded containers contain food, spare parts for the electrical system, photovoltaic systems and raw materials for the production of medicines. “We can only cover 30% of the basic list of medicines,” he said.

Trump: People are living under harsh conditions in Cuba, we will change the government.

Meanwhile, the streets of America: pic.twitter.com/t23cX5ka0M

— Antifa_Ultras (@ultras_antifaa) April 12, 2026

The Cuban Nation Does Not Surrender

Diaz-Canel also denounced that pressure from the White House has caused most tourism companies with investments in Cuba to withdraw, leading to the closure of 50% of hotels and unemployment for about 27,000 tourism-sector workers.

“If we are so incapable, inept and inefficient, why blockade us? Wouldn’t it be better to let us fall on our own?” the Cuban leader said, acknowledging that his country is currently in “a complex situation.”

“Nevertheless, the Cuban people have enormous creativity, and their resilience is heroic. We seek alternatives and wage a constant struggle to overcome these adversities through our own efforts and talent,” he pointed out.

“Without electricity, our doctors and nurses go to hospitals every day to save lives. Without electricity, our teachers completed the school year and more than 30,000 university students graduated,” Diaz-Canel recalled.

“In this extremely complex situation and suffering, we see the evil of a government as powerful as that of the United States, which sacrifices the Cuban people in an attempt to subjugate a nation. But this nation does not surrender, this people does not surrender!” the Cuban leader stated.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: Folha do Sao Paulo

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