Leader Says Cuba Would Resist

Cuba's leader says he wants talks with the US but is bracing for a fight if they don't happen. In a rare American television interview, President Miguel Díaz-Canel told NBC's Meet the Press there is "no justification" for a US military move against Cuba, warning that any invasion would spark fighting and that Cubans would "defend ourselves, and if we need to die, we'll die." He insisted Havana's stance is defensive, not aggressive, and urged dialogue "based on respect" between the two governments.

Pressed on US demands including the release of political prisoners, multiparty elections, and a free press, Díaz-Canel said such issues are not up for negotiation and called claims that dissenters are routinely jailed a "big lie." The president blamed Cuba's deep shortages, blackouts, and economic pain on the decades-old US embargo, which he labeled "genocidal and cruel," and said Cuba is open to US investment in its oil sector—something currently blocked by US law. A White House official, responding to the interview, described Cuba as a "failing nation" but said its leaders "want to make a deal." President Trump has spoken of a possible "takeover" of Cuba. The Hill points out that polling shows more than half of Americans are against any US military action in Cuba.