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The Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla warned on Wednesday that Cuba is preparing militarily in anticipation of a possible U.S. aggression, while acknowledging that bilateral diplomatic talks "are not showing progress."
The statements were made during an interview with CNN in Spanish in Havana, where the head of the regime's diplomacy addressed the escalating tensions with Washington, the energy crisis, and the threats from President Donald Trump.
Rodríguez directly responded to Trump's remarks—who stated that “once he deals with Iran, Cuba will be next”—with a blend of defiance and warning: “Of course, any threat must be taken seriously, and that is why we prepare to defend our independence and our sovereignty in the event of aggression, but we will always act solely in legitimate defense.”
The chancellor called the idea that Cuba poses a threat to the national security of the United States "ridiculous," but did not rule out the possibility of war: "A military aggression against Cuba will have to be met with all our strength by our state, by our entire people. It will be a bloodbath. Thousands upon thousands of Cubans will die, and young Americans will also die, sent to a war that is not theirs and that would make no sense."
Tensions have escalated since Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth traveled to the Guantanamo Naval Base on June 10 and issued direct warnings to Havana: "Do not threaten Americans... you will find out very quickly the consequences."
Leaked intelligence reports to U.S. media in May 2026 indicated that Cuba had acquired over 300 military drones from Russia and Iran, with potential plans to use them against installations in Guantánamo and Key West.
Regarding the energy crisis affecting the Cuban population, Rodríguez acknowledged that "the situation is painful," although he dismissed any comparison to the pandemic. He attributed the electrical collapse to what he termed an "energy siege," which, in his view, "is practically equivalent to a naval blockade": "The U.S. government has prevented the entry of fuel supplies into Cuba for the past 7 months."
The island is experiencing power outages of up to 2,100 MW of electrical deficit at this moment, with outages affecting more than 55% of the territory for up to 22 hours a day.
The record deficit reached 2,208 MW on June 25. The situation worsened after Executive Order 14380, signed by Trump on January 29, 2026, which reduced fuel imports by 80 to 90%, and following the cessation of Venezuelan supply —between 26,000 and 35,000 barrels per day— starting January 3 of that year.
In the diplomatic arena, Rodríguez denounced a "flagrant contradiction" between the tone of the American negotiators in the private discussions — formally initiated on March 13, 2026 — and the public behavior of Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Trump administration.
Despite this, he stated that Cuba remains open to dialogue and cooperates with Washington in areas such as drug trafficking, terrorism, and human trafficking.
Rodríguez also reported a recent attempt at infiltration: "From the United States, terrorist and violent actions are still being instigated with impunity in Cuba, as was recently the case with the attempt by a command unit armed with military weapons and high-power explosives that tried to enter our country from that territory."
Cuba called an extraordinary session of the UN General Assembly for July 7, under Item 38, to denounce the embargo and the energy blockade, which the regime describes as a "crime against humanity" and "an act of collective punishment."
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