Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel reaffirmed today that while his country does not wish to enter an open military conflict with the U.S., it does not fear that possibility and, rather, if attacked, it will proceed to defend itself.

"If there were an aggression, our people would have a united response in defense of sovereignty. We do not want war, but we do not fear aggression either. What we do is prepare so that there is neither surprise nor defeat," the president stated in an interview with the British media outlet Sky News.

His remarks were a response to a question about statements made the previous day by his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, claiming that the island was "getting closer" to Washington after "many decades" of tensions. In that context, the Cuban leader reiterated that, contrary to what the White House claims, the Caribbean nation is "a peaceful country" and does not represent "a threat to anyone." Instead, he said, Havana offers "much solidarity to the world." However, he stressed that this should not be interpreted as Cuba being willing to cede its sovereignty and independence.

"We are not a nation in dispute, we are not a colony, we are not going to hand over our sovereignty or our independence to anyone," he emphasized.

Threats and Psychological Warfare

The dignitary assessed that "the threats, the constant rhetoric about aggression" against Cuba "by the U.S. government, the almost daily expressions made, are part of a strategy of media intoxication and psychological warfare to intimidate" the population and "destabilize" that society. "They are an affront and an outrage to the dignity of our people, an offense to the defense of sovereignty," and are based on lies and manipulations, he considered.

Likewise, he warned that while "the current representatives of the U.S. government have told many lies, slandered a lot, and manipulated international public opinion a great deal," the Caribbean nation has managed to show the world the devastating effects of the siege policy deployed by the Trump Administration.

Finally, when asked whether he took seriously his U.S. counterpart's threats regarding "taking Cuba," he responded: "We are willing to fight and give our last drop of blood to defend our rights, also our independence and our sovereignty, and our conquests."

Siege and Trump's Threats

Washington has maintained an economic and commercial blockade against Cuba for over six decades. Since Trump assumed his second term in January 2025, the U.S. has intensified its policy of total siege and asphyxiation toward the island. This extraterritorial U.S. policy has been accompanied by serious threats, with the U.S. president himself stating he would be willing to use force if necessary to overthrow the Cuban government, which denounces these actions as a tactic of "genocide."

In line with the island authorities' denunciations, the Trump Administration, which maintains an active military deployment in the Caribbean with U.S. Southern Command troops, has repeatedly admitted that the objective of its policy against Cuba is to prevent Havana from obtaining any type of economic income and even to block the supply of oil, which is essential for the energy needs of the largest island in the Antilles.

The situation severely affects the Caribbean country's economy, which in recent months has suffered the impact of a multidimensional blockade reinforced with numerous coercive measures by the White House, endangering fundamental services such as energy, electricity, health, education, transportation, food, and tourism, among others.