The Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel made an unexpected turn in his speech this Friday after days of silence and verbal attacks against Washington.
In a message posted on the official account of the Presidency of Cuba on the platform X (formerly Twitter), the leader appointed by Raúl Castro stated that the island "is willing to engage in dialogue with the United States government," although he cautioned that such dialogue "cannot take place under pressure."
"We are a country of peace. Even in the midst of this aggression and the blockade over all these years, we have stated that we are willing to engage in dialogue with the government of the United States. However, the dialogue cannot occur under pressure. Even with the restrictions on fuel, Cuba will not be defeated by the empire," he wrote.
The message contrasts sharply with the statements made the previous week when Díaz-Canel accused the administration of Donald Trump of being “fascist, criminal, and genocidal” for the executive order aimed at cutting off the supply of oil to Cuba through sanctions on countries that supply fuel to the island.
The leader made his statement during the Extraordinary Plenary of the Provincial Committee of the Communist Party in Havana, where he insisted on the usual anti-imperialist rhetoric: he denounced “the aggression of the empire,” compared Trump to Hitler, and reiterated that Cuba “will not surrender.”
However, his public message on Friday reflected a change in tone: he no longer dismissed the possibility of dialogue, although he masked it under the old rhetoric of resistance.
Diplomatic sources in Havana consulted by CiberCuba interpret the gesture as an attempt to project a willingness to negotiate in light of the growing international pressure and the energy collapse that the country is experiencing.
"It is the Cuban version of the Venezuelan model: to resist rhetorically in public, but negotiate in private," noted a foreign observer.
Díaz-Canel's speech comes in the midst of a tense regional climate, with the United States determined to strangle the regime's energy sources and several governments warning about the accelerated deterioration of the situation on the island.
Meanwhile, the Cuban propaganda machine tries to present the crisis as a consequence solely of external sanctions, ignoring the internal management and structural corruption that have driven the country to the brink of collapse.
Even wrapped in his rhetoric of "resistance and sovereignty," Díaz-Canel's message reveals that the regime is seeking political and economic oxygen, aware that international isolation and the lack of fuel could hasten its final suffocation.
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