US President Donald Trump urged Cuba on Sunday to “make a deal” soon, pledging to cut off all oil and money flowing to the communist-run island after the toppling of Havana’s key ally, Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
The threatening social media post drew an angry retort from Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who said “no one” would tell his country what to do.
Washington has imposed economy-crippling sanctions on its island neighbour for decades, but Trump has ramped up the pressure in recent days.
US special forces seized Maduro and his wife this month in a lightning raid that left dozens of the ousted Venezuelan president’s security personnel dead — many of whom were Cuban.
Though Maduro’s allies have become interim leaders, Trump has claimed the United States now actually controls Venezuela through a US naval blockade of its vital oil sector.
“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO!” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
“I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.”
He said, “Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela. In return, Cuba provided ‘Security Services’ for the last two Venezuelan dictators, BUT NOT ANYMORE!” “Most of those Cubans are DEAD from last week’s U.S.A. attack, and Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years.”
Trump provided almost no details about what potential deal he referred to, or what such an arrangement would achieve.
Asked about it later on Sunday, Trump told reporters travelling with him on Air Force One that he wanted people forced out of Cuba or who “left under duress” to be taken care of.
“Most importantly, right now, we’re going to take care of the people that came from Cuba, that are American citizens, or in our country,” Trump said, without clarifying how this would be achieved under a deal with Havana.
‘Ready to fall’
A week ago, Trump stated that “Cuba is ready to fall,” noting that the island’s economic crisis was worsening and it would be difficult for Havana to “hold out” without receiving heavily subsidised Venezuelan oil.
Earlier on Sunday, the president reposted a message that jokingly suggested US Secretary of State Marco Rubio — a child of Cuban immigrants who concurrently holds the posts of national security advisor, acting head of the US archives, and acting international aid administrator — could also become the president of Cuba.
Trump shared that post with the comment: “Sounds good to me!” Cuba’s president rebuffed Trump’s threatening language, saying the Caribbean island’s residents were “ready to defend the homeland to the last drop of blood.” “Cuba is a free, independent and sovereign nation. No one tells us what to do,” Diaz-Canel wrote on X.
Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez also weighed in to stress that Cuba is within its rights to import fuel from any willing exporter, “without interference or subordination to the unilateral coercive measures of the United States.”
‘Talk, talk, talk’
A Cold War-era US trade embargo has cinched Cuba’s economy beginning in 1962, and since 2000 Havana has increasingly relied on Venezuelan oil provided as part of a deal struck with Maduro’s predecessor, the firebrand leftist Hugo Chavez.
On Sunday in the streets of Havana, retiree Mercedes Simon seemed to dismiss the US leader’s latest bluster.
“Trump is not going to touch Cuba,” the 65-year-old told AFP.
“All the presidents talk, talk, talk” about Cuba, for decades, “but they don’t act.” Marcos Sanchez, a 21-year-old working in the restaurant business, said the two countries should find common ground, “without resorting to violence.”
Trump’s provocative language on Cuba comes as the emboldened American leader has hinted he has other countries in his sights after capturing Maduro.
Trump, who had openly sought last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, has recently threatened Colombia, Mexico, Iran and Greenland.
Some Republican US lawmakers on Sunday lauded Trump for his aggressive comments on Cuba, including Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart from Florida.
“The tyranny in Cuba will not survive the second term of President Trump,” Diaz-Balart posted in Spanish on X, “and Cuba will finally be free after decades of misery, tragedy, and pain.”
