Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla described the new report from the U.S. Department of State on Cuba as a "fallacy" this Monday and accused Secretary of State Marco Rubio of trying to construct a pretext to justify a future military aggression against the island.
The reaction was published on his X account just a few hours after Rubio presented "Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism," a 100-page report that documents nearly seven decades of espionage, ideological subversion, and the export of the Cuban revolution to the United States.
"It is part of the construction, by the Secretary of State, of a pretext to sustain his cruel and criminal economic war that punishes every Cuban family, and his aspiration to militarily attack Cuba, for which he is desperately seeking the support of American citizens," wrote Rodríguez.
In a second message, the Minister of Foreign Affairs sharpened the tone of his criticisms.
"It is further evidence of the macabre plan devised by that U.S. politician from South Florida, which only serves the interests of those who have always funded him," he stated, apparently referring to Rubio and the support he receives from sectors of the Cuban exile community.
The Washington Report
The document was presented this Monday by Rubio, who asserted that the goal is to highlight the role that, in Washington's view, the Cuban regime has played for decades.
"For more than six decades, the Cuban regime has been the main sponsor of radical leftism and third-worldism in the United States. The American people deserve to know," wrote the Secretary of State on X.
The report asserts that Cuba has maintained a sustained strategy of espionage, infiltration, and ideological warfare against the United States since the triumph of the Revolution.
Among other points, it states that the island is home to 18 signal intelligence facilities, of which three would be operated by China and two by Russia. It also references information published by The Wall Street Journal regarding an alleged agreement between Havana and Beijing to construct a new intelligence facility aimed at intercepting communications in the southeastern United States.
The document traces this strategy to a letter written by Fidel Castro in 1958, in which he stated: "I vowed to myself that the Americans would pay dearly for what they were doing. When this war ends, a much broader and larger war will begin for me."
New verbal escalation
Bruno Rodríguez's response adds to a growing verbal confrontation between Havana and Washington.
Since May, when acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced federal charges against Raúl Castro for the downing of the Brothers to the Rescue aircraft in 1996, the Cuban Foreign Minister has repeatedly accused the U.S. administration of preparing an escalation against the island.
On July 15, described a ministerial conference on terrorism as "McCarthyist" organized by Rubio in Washington and accused him of attempting to "reinstate political persecution."
In other statements made in recent months, Rodríguez has also warned that a possible U.S. military intervention in Cuba would result in a "bloodbath" with thousands of casualties.
The report from the State Department concludes with a warning that summarizes its main thesis: "Confusing Cuba's poverty with its harmlessness is a complete misunderstanding of the threat. Its power has always been ideological, subversive, and parasitic."
Related videos:
Filed under: