Cuba's president warns US against attacking island or trying to depose
him
[April 13, 2026]
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said the
U.S. has no valid reason to carry out a military attack against the
island or to attempt to depose him.
Speaking in an interview on NBC News’ Meet the Press program, the
president said an invasion of Cuba would be costly and affect regional
security. But should it happen, Díaz-Canel said, Cubans would defend
themselves.
“If the time comes, I don’t think there would be any justification for
the United States to launch a military aggression against Cuba, or for
the U.S. to undertake a surgical operation or the kidnapping of a
president,” Díaz-Canel said, speaking through a translator.
He added: “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'.”
His comments come as tensions between Cuba and the U.S. remain high
despite both sides acknowledging talks, although no details have been
shared.
Díaz-Canel has accused the U.S. government of implementing a “hostile
policy” against Cuba and said it has “no moral to demand anything from
Cuba.” He noted that Cuba is interested in engaging in dialogue and
discussing any topic without conditions, “not demanding changes from our
political system as we are not demanding change from the American
system, about which we have a number of doubts.”
Cuba blames a U.S. energy blockade for its deepening woes, with a lack
of petroleum affecting the island’s health system, public transportation
and the production of goods and services.
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The arrival of a Russian tanker carrying 730,000 barrels of crude
oil in Cuba in March marked the island’s first oil shipment in three
months. Russia has promised to send a second tanker.
Cuba produces only 40% of the fuel it consumes, and it stopped
receiving key oil shipments from Venezuela after the U.S. military
attacked the South American country in early January, seized
President Nicolás Maduro and took him to New York to face drug
trafficking charges. Then, with cooperation from ruling party
leaders, the Trump administration began implementing a phased plan
to end Venezuela’s entrenched crisis.
Despite threatening tariffs in January on countries that sell or
provide oil to Cuba, the Trump administration allowed the tanker to
proceed.
“Cuba’s finished,” President Donald Trump said at the time. “They
have a bad regime. They have very bad and corrupt leadership and
whether or not they get a boat of oil, it’s not going to matter.”
Díaz-Canel said his government takes Trump’s words as a warning.
“You hear that Cuba is next, that Cuba is going to be next, that
there are, there’s a way out, that they’re going to take over Cuba,”
he said. “So, from the position of responsibility within the
leadership of the country, that is a warning. And we need to
responsibly protect our people, protect our project and protect our
country.”
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