“Nobody tells us what to do”: This was the response on Sunday from Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel to US President Donald Trump, who urged the island to reach “an agreement before it’s too late.”
“Cuba is a free, independent, and sovereign nation. Nobody tells us what to do,” Díaz-Canel stated on X, after emphasizing that the island “is preparing” and is “ready to defend the homeland to the last drop of blood.”
Trump urged Cuba on Sunday to “reach an agreement” or face unspecified consequences, and warned that the flow of Venezuelan oil and money to Havana would stop immediately.
He also emphasized that “those who blame the Revolution for the severe economic hardships” suffered by Cubans “should be ashamed to remain silent,” because “they know, and acknowledge, that these hardships are the result of the draconian measures of extreme strangulation that the United States has imposed on us for six decades and threatens to intensify now.”
Under a U.S. embargo, Havana has become increasingly dependent, since 2000, on Venezuelan oil supplied as part of an agreement reached with Maduro’s predecessor, the late Hugo Chávez.
