Cuban foreign minister warns US on 'dangerous path' that could lead to 'bloodbath in Cuba'
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez warned that the United States is on a "dangerous path" that could lead to a "bloodbath in Cuba" in response to President Donald Trump's continued rhetoric about taking over the country, and said there has been "no progress" in talks between the two countries.
In a sit-down interview with ABC News' Whit Johnson in Havana on Thursday, Rodriguez said he takes Trump's threats "very seriously," and that Cuba will "exercise its right for its legitimate defense" if attacked militarily.
"It seems that the U.S. government has chosen a dangerous path, a path that could lead to unimaginable consequences, to humanitarian catastrophe, to a genocide, to the loss of Cuban and young American lives, it could also lead to a bloodbath in Cuba," Rodriguez told ABC News in Spanish.
In recent weeks, Trump has said that Cuba's political system needs to change "dramatically" and has repeatedly declared that the U.S. will be "doing something with Cuba very soon."
Most recently, while speaking in Florida last week, Trump said that after the operation in Iran, "Cuba is going to be next," and that the U.S. will be "taking over Cuba almost immediately." He also suggested that he could send the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier to Cuba and stop about 100 yards offshore, before expressing his belief that Cuba would say, "thank you very much. We give up."
So far, the administration has relied on economic tactics to pressure Cuba, including a blockade earlier this year cutting off Havana's access to foreign oil shipments, including those from Venezuela.
Last week, the Trump administration imposed new sanctions aimed at members of the regime that the White House said were "complicit in government corruption or serious human rights violations, or are agents, officials, or material supporters of the Cuban government,” according to a fact sheet published by the White House.
In the interview on Thursday, Rodriguez maintained Cuba's independence and said that if attacked militarily, "Cuba will exercise its right for its legitimate defense to the very last consequences with massive, mass support of the people."
"Cuba is not a threat to the U.S., national security or foreign policy or economy or the American way of life," he told ABC News.
In March, Cuban President Miquel Díaz-Canel publicly acknowledged that his government had been holding secretive talks with the U.S. for weeks, as Trump intensified his pressure campaign against the regime.
Rodriguez told ABC News on Thursday that there has been no progress in the talks with the U.S and dismissed recent demands from the Trump administration for political and economic reforms.
"I can tell you that I see no progress," Rodriguez said.
He said they have been "ready for talking on many different bilateral issues," but issues related to Cuba's political system or internal affairs are "not on the table."
Pressed to respond to allegations of political persecution, violence, government mismanagement and a lack of freedoms in Cuba, Rodriguez said he disputes them. He said using the allegations as a justification for launching a military aggression is "forbidden by the international law."
