A top Cuban official turned U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest remarks about the Caribbean island back on American officials who dispute that the country’s economic problems are caused by the actions of Washington.
“It is frequent for U.S. officials and diplomats to claim that U.S. aggression is not responsible for difficulties in Cuba,” deputy foreign minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio wrote on X, responding to a clip of Trump’s comments.
“It seems they don’t listen to their President, including the chief diplomat in Havana.”
Trump, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday, said Cuba should “absolutely make a deal” with the U.S. “because it’s really a humanitarian threat”.
The White House has Cuba’s communist leadership in its sights after removing Nicolas Maduro from power in Venezuela.
Trump has sought to block Cuba’s oil supply to crank up the pressure on Havana. The U.S. blames the communist Cuban system for its long-running economic problems and wants wholesale changes.
“We’ll see how it all turns out, but Cuba and us, we are talking,” Trump said. “In the meantime, there’s an embargo, there’s no money, there’s no oil, there’s no anything.”
This is a developing article. Updates to follow.
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