The Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla directly accused Secretary of State Marco Rubio of lying "time and again" about Cuba, during an exclusive interview granted to the program The Story with Martha MacCallum from Fox News in New York, where he was participating in a UN Security Council session.
The presenter Martha MacCallum conveyed to Rodríguez that Rubio had told her that Cuba represents "a direct threat to the national security of the U.S." and mentioned an arsenal of military drones supplied by Russia and China, as well as reports on alleged internal Cuban plans to attack U.S. military targets.
The chancellor's response: "Imagine: Cuba is a small island of 100,000 square kilometers and 10 million inhabitants. With what logic, with what common sense, can it be argued that Cuba could threaten a nuclear superpower?"
Regarding Rubio, he was even more direct: "We will have to ask the Secretary of State if he has any evidence. I have heard him lie time and again about this issue."
The appearance of Rodríguez on Fox News —a channel historically aligned with a hardline stance against Cuba— is unusual and represents a deliberate attempt by the regime to deliver its message to the American conservative audience, at a time when the Trump administration is using that same channel to articulate its policy towards the island.
In the same interview, Rodríguez addressed the federal charges against Raúl Castro, declassified on May 20th and related to the downing of two planes from Brothers to the Rescue on February 24, 1996, which resulted in the deaths of four individuals. The foreign minister responded with a rhetorical question: "Will we have to ask the U.S. Government why it waited 30 years to do this?" He described the charges as "part of a political narrative aimed at manipulating American public opinion to justify a military aggression against Cuba."
Rodríguez also rejected Trump's characterization of Cuba as a "failed nation," pointing out a contradiction: "If the Cuban economy were not viable, what would be the purpose of an executive order from the President of the U.S. declaring a total energy blockade against Cuba?"
The interview takes place in the context of the highest escalation of tension between Washington and Havana in decades. Trump signed the Executive Order 14380 on January 29, imposing secondary sanctions on countries that supply oil to Cuba, and on May 1, expanded the sanctions to the energy, defense, mining, and finance sectors. According to news reports, these measures have reduced the island's energy imports by 80% to 90%, exacerbating blackouts of up to 25 hours daily.
Rubio declared on May 22 that Cuba is a "serious threat" to national security due to its ties with China and Russia, and asserted that the president has the option to do "whatever is necessary." Trump even threatened to deploy the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast of Cuba.
Rodríguez concluded his remarks with a warning that summarizes the regime's position in the face of pressure from Washington: "No political difference between two states, no consideration of the political system or government of another country can justify provoking a war, a bloodbath, or a humanitarian catastrophe."
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