Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel today denounced what he characterized as the U.S. empire's criminal and hostile policy against the island, while thanking Mexico for its solidarity and asserting that the Caribbean nation will not surrender.

“Cuba suffers daily from the criminal, fascist, and hostile policy of the empire, which negatively impacts all spheres of national life,” he stated in a message delivered at the opening of the 30th International Seminar “Parties and a New Society,” organized by Mexico's Labor Party.

The First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba noted that Washington's strategy extends beyond the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed for over 60 years and the hundreds of unilateral, extraterritorial sanctions currently enforced.

“For their macabre purposes, it was also necessary to issue two presidential executive orders,” he said, pointing to the order declaring Cuba an unusual and extraordinary threat to U.S. national security, as well as the measure justifying secondary sanctions with marked extraterritorial reach.

He stated that intensified energy blockade measures have been applied extraterritorially, noting that despite numerous efforts, no fuel ships have entered Cuban ports in nine months.

This blockade has exacerbated power outages and severely impacted the operation of healthcare facilities, while also disrupting water supply, transportation, and food production, which he cited as examples of the “silent genocide to which we are subjected.”

“When the U.S. government intensifies its policy against our people, our fighting conviction remains that Cuba will overcome and will not surrender,” the leader asserted, noting that the island now generates 21.4% of its electricity from renewable energy sources.

Emphasizing that Cuba is a peaceful nation of hardworking people that poses no threat to the U.S., he warned that the blockade itself represents a “real and permanent threat to the existence and well-being of Cubans,” as well as to regional stability and global state sovereignty.

He called for continued solidarity from attendees, while extending a fraternal message to the Mexican people and the administration of President Claudia Sheinbaum, expressing deep gratitude for their unwavering support.

Marking the centenary year of the birth of historical leader Fidel Castro, Díaz-Canel concluded that “his legacy calls upon us today with more force than ever.”