Donald Trump has told Cuba to “make a deal before it’s too late” and floated the idea of installing Marco Rubio as the country’s new leader.
The US president urged Havana on Sunday to comply with his administration’s demands or face economic collapse, warning that the flow of Venezuelan oil and money would now stop.
Cuba’s president, in response, refused to bow to the threat and pledged to defend the island “to the last drop of blood”.
“No one dictates what we do. Cuba does not aggress; it is aggressed upon by the United States for 66 years, and it does not threaten; it prepares, ready to defend the homeland to the last drop of blood,” said Miguel Díaz-Canel.
Cuba, which has long relied on the sanctioned crude imports to prop up its ailing economy, has been left increasingly isolated after US forces seized Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, in a nighttime raid last week.
“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO!” Mr Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.”
He also responded to a post saying that Mr Rubio, the Cuban-American US secretary of state, should be inserted as the country’s leader, writing: “Sounds good to me!”
The White House has signalled that the communist-run island is next in the crosshairs of Mr Trump, as he continues with his campaign to remake the Americas and rid them of adversaries.
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