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Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla accused U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday of lying to instigate a military aggression against Cuba that, he warned, "would result in the shedding of blood of Cubans and Americans."
The message, published on social media platform X, is a direct response to Rubio's statements to the press, in which the head of U.S. diplomacy described Cuba as a "failed state," reaffirmed that the island poses a threat to U.S. national security, and warned of a potential systemic collapse. Rubio also admitted that he does not see "much progress" in the negotiations with the Cuban regime.
Rodríguez rejected the notion that Cuba poses any threat to Washington and reversed the argument: "It is the U.S. government that ruthlessly and systematically assaults the Cuban people and has become engrossed in recent months in provoking the despair of the population and the collapse of the economy, prohibiting the import of fuel and reinforcing the extraterritorial nature of the blockade."
The chancellor also characterized the designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism as a "falsehood," asserting that it has been the U.S. that "has acted with complicity and impunity for decades by allowing the organization and execution of terrorist actions against Cuba from its territory, and by harboring notorious confessed terrorists."
Finally, Rodríguez directly pointed to Rubio as the one responsible for the economic pressure: "The Secretary of State is well aware that the intensification of unilateral coercive measures, of which he has been a driving force with determination, is the main obstacle to Cuba's economic development, having a comprehensive and destructive effect on all sectors of the country, including the private sector."
The exchange occurs at a moment of unprecedented escalation. This Wednesday, the Department of Justice declassified the formal indictment from a federal grand jury against Raúl Castro for the shooting down of two planes from Brothers to the Rescue in 1996, which resulted in the deaths of four Cuban-Americans. Rubio stated that Castro is "a fugitive from American justice" and vowed to bring him to the U.S.
That same day, the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz arrived in the Caribbean, deployed by Southern Command. Trump dismissed any notion that the ship aims to intimidate Cuba, stating: "Not at all. We are going to help them."
Since January 2026, the Trump administration has imposed over 240 sanctions against Cuba and intercepted at least seven oil tankers, reducing energy imports by 80% to 90% and causing power outages of up to 25 hours a day in more than 55% of Cuban territory.
This is not the first time Rodríguez has issued warnings in this tone. On May 8, in an interview from Havana, he had already spoken about the "unimaginable consequences" of an attack, including loss of Cuban and American lives, and on May 13 he insisted that there would be a "bloodbath" if the U.S. attacked the island.
Rubio, for his part, was clear about the prospects for an agreement: "The likelihood of that happening with those currently in power is not high," he acknowledged, although he specified that Trump's preference remains "a negotiated and peaceful agreement."
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