Cuba is prepared for the unlikely possibility of military engagement with the US, Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio says in response to US President Donald Trump’s threats to take over the Caribbean island nation.
Havana and Washington entered talks earlier this month as an oil blockade imposed by Trump pushes the Communist-run nation deeper into economic crisis.
Trump on Monday escalated his rhetoric against Cuba, saying he expected to have the “honour” of taking Cuba.
“Our country has historically been ready to mobilise as a nation as a whole for military aggression … We don’t believe it is something that is probable, but we would be naive if we do not prepare,” de Cossio told NBC on Sunday.
“We don’t see why it would have to occur, and we find no justification whatsoever.”
Reports had suggested the Trump administration was seeking to remove Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel from power.
De Cossio also said any suggestion of the nature, the structure, or members of the Cuban government being subject to negotiation in talks with the US is untrue.
He added that a regime change is “absolutely” off the table in discussions with the United States.
The US military is not rehearsing for an invasion of Cuba or actively preparing to militarily take over the island, the top general overseeing American forces in Latin America told MPs on Thursday.