Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel denounced and responded to Trump's remarks on social media, writing that "those who turn everything into a business, even human lives, have no moral authority to criticize Cuba for anything, absolutely anything." Over two dozen Cuban military and intelligence service members reportedly died during the U.S. attack on Venezuela that led to Maduro's capture,
USA Today reports.
"Cuba is a free, independent, and sovereign nation. Nobody dictates what we do," Díaz-Canel continued on X. "Cuba does not attack; it has been attacked by the U.S. for 66 years, and it does not threaten; it prepares, ready to defend the homeland to the last drop of blood."
The social media posts are the latest move by the Trump administration targeting Cuba following Maduro's capture in a long history of tension, trade sanctions and embargoes between the two countries dating back to the 1950s. Both Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio have spoken pointedly about the country, with the president describing Cuba's government and economic system on the verge of collapse last week.
"Cuba is ready to fall," Trump said. "Cuba looks like it's ready to fall. I don't know if they're going to hold out. But Cuba now has no income. They got all of their income from Venezuela, from the Venezuelan oil. They're not getting any of it. And Cuba is literally ready to fall."
Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and a key architect of the Venezuela attack, is a longtime critic of the Cuban government.
Rubio issued a warning to Cuba in a Jan. 3 news conference as Trump and his top officials discussed the Venezuelan attack, calling the country a "disaster."
"If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I would be concerned ‒ at least a little bit," Rubio said.
