Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on Monday that any US attack on Cuba would cause a “bloodbath,” a warning that comes as US officials are setting up pretexts for a potential war on the island nation.
“The threats of military aggression against [Cuba] from the world’s greatest power are well-known,” Diaz-Canel wrote on X. “The threat itself already constitutes an international crime. If it were to materialize, it would trigger a bloodbath with incalculable consequences, plus the destructive impact on regional peace and stability.”
The Cuban leader also appeared to respond to a report from Axios, which cited unnamed US officials who claimed Cuba’s military has discussed using drones against the US base at Guantanamo Bay, US warships, or even potentially Key West, Florida. Buried in the report was an acknowledgment that the US doesn’t “believe Cuba is an imminent threat, or actively planning to attack American interests” and that any alleged conversations about drone warfare were regarding potential responses to a US attack.
“Cuba poses no threat, nor does it have aggressive plans or intentions against any country. It has none against the US, nor has it ever had any — something the government of that nation knows full well, particularly its defense and national security agencies,” Diaz-Canel said in his X post.
“Cuba, which already endures a multidimensional aggression from the US, does have the absolute and legitimate right to defend itself against a military onslaught. Yet that cannot be wielded, either logically or honestly, as an excuse for imposing war on the noble Cuban people,” the Cuban leader added.
Besides the Axios story, another pretext being discussed is the possibility of the Department of Justice indicting former Cuban President Raul Castro, the brother of long-time leader Fidel Castro, over the 1996 downing of two planes belonging to a Cuban exile group, which killed four people. The idea appears to be to follow a similar playbook as the US pursued regarding its attack on Venezuela.
President Trump has repeatedly threatened some sort of attack on Cuba, saying in March that he may have the “honor” of “taking” the country. The US has also imposed a ramped-up oil embargo on Cuba, which has caused a devastating humanitarian crisis in the country.
