Cuba’s president has rejected US President Donald Trump’s call for Havana to “make a deal” with Washington, after Trump warned that the island nation would be cut off from Venezuelan oil supplies and financial support it has depended on for decades.
“No one dictates what we do,” Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said on Sunday in a post on X, responding to Trump’s warning that Cuba must reach an agreement with the United States “before it’s too late.”
For years, Cuba has received substantial support from oil-rich Venezuela. However, following the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a US operation and Trump’s announcement that Venezuela would redirect between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil to the United States, Cuba now faces growing economic uncertainty.
“Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of oil and money from Venezuela,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “In return, Cuba provided ‘security services’ for the last two Venezuelan dictators — but not anymore. There will be no more oil or money going to Cuba — zero.” Trump did not specify what a potential deal with Havana would involve.
The Cuban government said 32 of its citizens were killed during what it described as “combat actions” linked to the US operation that captured Maduro.
Díaz-Canel stressed Cuba’s sovereignty and its readiness to defend itself, accusing Washington of decades of aggression. He said Cuba “does not threaten” but remains prepared to defend the country “to the last drop of blood,” adding that those who turn everything into a business — “even human lives” — have no moral authority to criticise Cuba.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez earlier defended the country’s “absolute right” to import fuel from its economic partners and dismissed claims that Cuba exchanged security services for Venezuelan oil. He accused the United States of acting as an “uncontrolled hegemon” that threatens not only Cuba, but regional and global peace.
Trump later told reporters aboard Air Force One that the United States was “talking to Cuba,” though he provided no details. He said the discussions would include issues related to Cubans who left the country under pressure or were forced into exile.
The United States has long pursued regime change in Cuba, which has been governed under a single-party socialist system since 1961. One of the most prominent advocates of this policy within Trump’s administration is Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and a leading figure within Miami’s Cuban exile community.
