Miguel Díaz-Canel granted an interview to the Spanish newspaper Público during the May Day march in Havana, where he made ironic remarks about accusations of dictatorship, challenged military threats from Washington, and defended the Cuban regime's rhetoric of resistance in the face of maximum pressure from the Trump administration.
The interview, published last Thursday by Público, took place in three locations: the Plaza de la Revolución, the Paseo Avenue during the march, and the Anti-Imperialist Tribuna in front of the U.S. embassy. On the same day, Trump signed a new package of sanctions against Cuba and declared to supporters in Florida: "We're going to take Cuba almost immediately."
In response to those threats, Díaz-Canel replied with a phrase that summarizes the regime's stance: "If we are attacked, there will be a fight here."
Regarding the accusations of governing a dictatorship, the Cuban leader resorted to irony: "And I am a very strange dictator: a dictator who can share with his people, who can march alongside his people."
The statement is striking in a country where hundreds of political prisoners remain incarcerated, where independent journalist Ángel Cuza was arrested on April 30 in front of his daughter by State Security agents, and where there have been reports of pressure on workers and the removal of children from schools to bolster the protests.
Regarding the energy crisis, Díaz-Canel referred to the oil embargo as "a collective punishment that has further intensified the economic, financial, and commercial blockade against Cuba," and accused Washington of wanting to "defeat us through suffocation."
What was omitted is that blackouts in Cuba exceed 24 hours daily and affect more than 60% of the territory, with a generation deficit that surpassed 1,900 MW last Thursday, resulting from decades of disinvestment and mismanagement by the regime.
In foreign policy, Díaz-Canel accused Trump of having "renewed the Monroe Doctrine" with what he called the "Trump corollary," and denounced that Washington is once again viewing Latin America "as its backyard."
Regarding relations with the United States, he adopted a more conciliatory tone: "American flags have never been burned here," he said, and expressed a desire for "a civilized relationship between neighbors" despite ideological differences.
The May Day march, which this year was moved from Plaza de la Revolución to the Anti-imperialist Tribune under the argument of "austerity," recorded a notably lower attendance than in previous years, according to independent reports.
Raúl Castro presided over the central political event in his first public appearance since the ninth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, held in March.
This is not the first time Díaz-Canel has adopted this defiant tone. In April, he warned that a U.S. attack would cause immense losses for both nations, and in his interview with NBC News he stated, "I am not afraid. I am willing to give my life for the Revolution."
The day after the march, the leader posted another warning on his social media: "No aggressor will find surrender in Cuba."
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