The president Miguel Díaz-Canel described this Sunday the "maximum pressure" design as "sickly," which he claims is promoted "by some from the United States" against Cuba, while accusing Washington of laying the groundwork for a military intervention on the island.
The Cuban leader posted the message on his X account amid a sustained escalation of tensions between Havana and Washington that has intensified in recent weeks.
"The 'maximum pressure' design that some obsessively promote from the United States is part of the strategy to justify the false narrative of collapse and thus military intervention," wrote Díaz-Canel.
The ruler also stated that the collective punishment imposed on the Cuban people "already qualifies as genocide" and concluded his message with the phrase "Cuba is not alone," accompanied by the hashtag #LaPatriaSeDefiende.
The tweet comes four days after the U.S. Department of Justice filed federal charges against Raúl Castro for the shootdown of two planes belonging to Hermanos al Rescate on February 24, 1996, which resulted in the deaths of four Cuban Americans. The charges include conspiracy to commit murder of U.S. citizens and four counts of murder.
On May 22, the regime organized an event at the José Martí Anti-imperialist Tribune with workers mobilized from their workplaces in support of Castro, who did not attend the event.
On that same day, Díaz-Canel posted on Facebook invoking the military glories of the revolution - the Sierra Maestra, Girón, and the missions in Africa - to warn that Cuba will resist any aggression, and he quoted José Martí: "The turbulent and brutal North that despises us has yet to understand us: in wanting to divide us, it has united us even more."
The belligerent rhetoric of the regime contrasts sharply with the reality faced by the Cuban population, which endures power outages of up to 30 hours a day, a critical shortage of food and medicines, and over 1,200 political prisoners.
The energy crisis has worsened following the interruption of Venezuelan crude oil supply, after the capture of former president Nicolás Maduro in January, and due to the effective oil embargo imposed by Washington, which is reported to have reduced fuel imports by 80% to 90%.
Since the beginning of the year, the administration of President Donald Trump has accumulated more than 240 sanctions against Cuba, with at least seven tankers intercepted in international waters. On May 1, Trump signed an executive order expanding sanctions in the energy, defense, mining, and financial sectors.
The Secretary of State Marco Rubio admitted that he does not see progress in the negotiations with the regime and described Cuba as a "failed state."
At the international level, pressure on the regime is also increasing from Europe. The EU's High Representative, Kaja Kallas, confirmed before the European Parliament that the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement with Cuba is under review, acknowledging that "it has not yielded the expected results".
The final vote to suspend that agreement is scheduled for June.
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