{"id":49663,"date":"2026-04-13T16:27:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T16:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=49663"},"modified":"2026-04-13T16:27:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T16:27:07","slug":"cubas-president-says-we-will-defend-ourselves-against-u-s-invasion-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=49663","title":{"rendered":"Cuba\u2019s president says \u2018we will defend ourselves\u2019 against U.S. invasion – National"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Cuban President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel<\/a> said the island \u201cwill defend ourselves\u201d against a U.S. invasion in an interview on NBC News\u2019 Meet the Press<\/em><\/a> on Sunday.<\/p>\n

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D\u00edaz-Canel, 65, said the U.S. has no valid reason to carry out a military attack against the island or to attempt to depose him.<\/p>\n

He said an invasion of Cuba would be costly and affect regional security, but should it happen, Cubans would defend themselves \u2014 even if it meant losing their lives in the process.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf the time comes, I don\u2019t think there would be any justification for the United States to launch a military aggression against Cuba, or for the U.S. to undertake a surgical operation or the kidnapping of a president,\u201d D\u00edaz-Canel said, speaking through a translator.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf that happens, there will be fighting, and there will be a struggle, and we will defend ourselves, and if we need to die, we\u2019ll die, because as our national anthem says, \u2018Dying for the homeland is to live.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore making that decision, which is so irrational, there is a logic, that is, the logic of dialogue, to engage in discussions, to debate and try to reach agreements that would move us away from confrontation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Journalist Kristen Welker asked D\u00edaz-Canel whether he was willing to commit to responding to \u201ckey demands\u201d from the U.S., such as releasing political prisoners and scheduling multi-party elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody has made those demands to us, and we have established that in respect to our political system or constitutional order, these are issues that are not under negotiations with the United States,\u201d D\u00edaz-Canel responded.<\/p>\n

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When Welker pressed D\u00edaz-Canel on the topic of political prisoners, and specifically named Cuban rapper Maykel Osorbo<\/a>, who has been in prison since 2021 for writing a protest song, the president said there are people in Cuba who are not in favour of the revolution \u201cand manifest themselves on a daily basis\u201d who are not in prison.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis narrative that has been created, that image that anyone who speaks against a revolution is thrown into jail, that\u2019s a big lie, that\u2019s a slander, and that\u2019s part of that construct in order to vilify and to engage a character assassination of the Cuban Revolution,\u201d D\u00edaz-Canel said, without answering about Osorbo.<\/p>\n

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In a portion of the interview shared on Thursday<\/a>, Welker asked D\u00edaz-Canel if he would be \u201cwilling to step down if it meant saving Cuba<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before answering, D\u00edaz-Canel asked Welker if she had ever posed that question to any other president in the world.<\/p>\n

He asked: \u201cIs that a question from you, or is that coming from the State Department of the U.S. government?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Cuba, the people who are in leadership positions are not elected by the U.S. government, and they don\u2019t have a mandate from the U.S. government. We have a free sovereign state, a free state. We have self-determination and independence, and we are not subjected to the designs of the United States,\u201d D\u00edaz-Canel said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe concept of revolutionaries giving up and stepping down \u2013 it\u2019s not part of our vocabulary.\u201d<\/p>\n

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D\u00edaz-Canel said he became president not out of a \u201cpersonal ambition or corporate ambition or even a party ambition,\u201d but because of a mandate by the people.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf the Cuban people understand that I am not fit for office, that I have no reason to be here, then I should not be holding this position of president; I will respond to them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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