Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio said any US military action against Cuba would be an “atrocious international crime.” He said Havana must prepare its people for possible aggression and Cuba would defend itself even if it stood alone.
Trump said at the UN General Assembly that “freedom will be coming” to Cuba, prompting the Cuban delegation to leave the hall. On Saturday, he said he did not think the military would be needed and called Cuba “failing very badly”; Fernandez de Cossio rejected the failed-state characterization. The US has maintained maximum economic pressure on Cuba for more than 60 years. Earlier this year, the Trump administration imposed an additional oil and fuel blockade, which has crippled infrastructure and caused widespread fuel scarcity and rolling power outages.
Fernandez de Cossio said US pressure included disrupting commercial shipments, trying to handicap the population through starvation, depriving it of stable healthcare and withholding fuel. He called the measures “equivalent to a genocide” and said they had continued for nine months. He said bilateral diplomatic channels remain open but have yielded minimal results amid ongoing sanctions; Havana is willing to engage with Washington if talks respect sovereignty, preserve mutual dignity and benefit both populations. Several countries condemned the US sanctions and blockade at the UN General Assembly.
