CUBA has condemned a new escalation by the United States, accusing Washington of intensifying its long-standing blockade through measures aimed at restricting fuel supplies to the island.
In a statement issued in Havana on Friday, Cuba denounced an executive order signed by the US President Donald Trump on Thursday, which declared a national emergency and authorised the imposition of trade tariffs on imports from countries supplying oil to Cuba.
According to the Cuban government, the order is based on what it described as “lies and defamatory accusations”, including the claim that Cuba represents an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US national security.
The statement accused Washington of acting with “contempt for the truth, public opinion, and government ethics” in pursuit of its policy towards Cuba, arguing that the justification for the measures lacks credibility even within the United States itself.
Cuba said the decision seeks to tighten economic pressure through “blackmail, threats, and direct coercion of third countries”, reinforcing restrictions first intensified during Trump’s first term. It accused the United States of attempting to dictate trade relations between sovereign states as part of what it described as a broader strategy to maintain global dominance.
“The executive order of the President of the United States therefore constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and also violates the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace,” the statement said, adding that the policy threatens regional and global stability.
The Cuban government said the measures reflect Washington’s failure, over more than six decades, to dismantle what it described as “a genuine and legitimate political and revolutionary process of full sovereignty, social justice, and the promotion of peace and solidarity”.
The statement reiterated Cuba’s position that it remains open to dialogue with the United States, provided it is based on international law, mutual respect, sovereign equality, and non-interference in internal affairs.
“As everyone knows, including the US government itself, Cuba poses no threat whatsoever to the United States, its national interests, or the well-being of its citizens,” the statement said, noting that US citizens have historically been treated with “respect and hospitality” when permitted to visit the island.
Cuba called on the international community to reject what it described as aggression and abuse, warning that the precedent could have wider global implications.
“We will face this new attack with firmness, equanimity, and the certainty that reason is absolutely on our side,” the statement concluded. “The decision is one: Homeland or Death, We Shall Overcome!”
