Cuba’s leader denies being in talks with the US after Trump’s threats, vowing Cubans are ready to defend their country to the last drop of blood.
HAVANA: Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel has denied being in negotiations with the United States government.
The denial comes a day after US President Donald Trump claimed talks were underway and urged Havana to “make a deal.”
“There are no conversations with the US government except for technical contacts in the area of migration,” Diaz-Canel stated on Monday.
He reacted defiantly to Trump’s threats, which followed the US military raid that ousted key Cuban ally Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.
Trump has ramped up pressure on Cuba, one of the few remaining leftist governments in Latin America.
“We’re talking with Cuba,” Trump said aboard Air Force One on Sunday.
He earlier vowed to cut off all oil and money Venezuela had been providing to Cuba.
“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
“I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” he added, without specifying the terms.
Cuba is struggling through its worst economic crisis in decades and reeling from the loss of Venezuelan support.
President Diaz-Canel vowed on Sunday that Cubans were “ready to defend the homeland to the last drop of blood.”
The island has been a US adversary since the 1959 communist revolution led by Fidel Castro.
Trump walked back a diplomatic detente with Cuba launched by his predecessor, Barack Obama.
After Maduro’s capture, Trump stated that Cuba was “ready to fall.”
He noted the island would find it hard to hold out without subsidised Venezuelan oil amid crippling fuel shortages.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a longtime foe of Cuba’s government, also hinted at increased pressure.
“If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I’d be concerned at least a little bit,” Rubio said on January 3.
Aboard Air Force One, Trump referred to Cuban immigrants in the US.
“Most importantly, right now, we’re going to take care of the people that came from Cuba,” he said.
He also reposted a message that jokingly suggested Rubio could serve as president of Cuba.
