The Colombian president Gustavo Petro defended the Cuban regime during a speech delivered this Tuesday at the inauguration of Block A of the Faculty of Arts at the National University of Colombia in Bogotá, stating that Cuba "should be applauded and helped" instead of being invaded, in direct response to the recent military threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.
The statements, shared by teleSUR on social media, come days after Trump declared at a private dinner in West Palm Beach that the United States would "take Cuba almost immediately" after concluding operations in Iran, and described the hypothetical deployment of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln 100 yards off the Cuban coast to force the regime's surrender.
Petro argued that Cuba deserves recognition for its supposed cultural vanguard: "If there is a cultural and artistic vanguard in Latin America, it is called Cuba," he stated before the university audience.
The Colombian president also praised the Cuban vaccine against COVID-19 and subtly criticized former president Iván Duque: "The only society in Latin America and the Caribbean that was able to develop a vaccine when it was needed was Cuba... which saved I don't know how many lives, starting with Cuban lives."
From that argument, Petro concluded: "And if a society, in the midst of the global crisis we experienced, was able to quickly develop an effective vaccine, then that society, instead of being invaded, should be applauded and supported."
The discourse is not an isolated fact. Last Sunday, Petro posted on X that "unlock Cuba and you will see political changes" and warned that "those who want to invade Cuba will only ignite political violence throughout Latin America." In April, in an interview with RTVE in Barcelona, he referred to the embargo as "genocide" and described it as "starving a people." In January, he stated that "living in Cuba is much better than in Miami", describing the American city as a "sequin of capitalism."
Petro's stance contrasts with the reality faced by Cubans. The island is experiencing blackouts of up to 25 hours a day, shortages of food and medicines, systematic political repression, and an unprecedented migratory exodus, all direct consequences of 67 years of communist dictatorship.
While Petro praises the regime, the Trump administration has increased pressure: since January 2026, it has imposed more than 240 new sanctions, intercepted at least seven oil tankers, and reduced Cuban energy imports by between 80% and 90%. On May 1, he also signed a new executive order that introduces secondary sanctions against foreign companies operating with Cuba.
The regime responded with institutional defiance. Miguel Díaz-Canel stated that "no aggressor, no matter how powerful, will find surrender in Cuba," while Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla declared that the island "refuses to be intimidated."
Petro's critics argue that his narrative overlooks the fact that the main cause of the Cuban crisis is not the U.S. embargo, but the totalitarian model imposed since 1959, and that his praises for the regime contrast with the daily suffering of the Cuban people.
Filed under: