{"id":199386,"date":"2026-02-06T05:31:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T05:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/cuban-president-says-hes-willing-to-talk-to-u-s-but-preparing-a-defense-plan-as-fuel-crisis-worsens-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T05:31:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T05:31:08","slug":"cuban-president-says-hes-willing-to-talk-to-u-s-but-preparing-a-defense-plan-as-fuel-crisis-worsens-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/cuban-president-says-hes-willing-to-talk-to-u-s-but-preparing-a-defense-plan-as-fuel-crisis-worsens-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuban president says he's willing to talk to U.S. but preparing a 'defense plan' as fuel crisis worsens – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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HAVANA \u2014\u00a0Cuban President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel said the government is preparing for severe fuel shortages as he denounced the Trump administration’s measures that have cut oil supplies to the island.
\u201cIt is reprehensible that a power such as the U.S. would adopt such a criminal policy against a country, as it affects food, transportation, hospitals, schools, economic production and the functioning of our vital systems,\u201d D\u00edaz-Canel said.
\u201cWe are going to take measures that, while not permanent, will require effort. What else are we to do?\u201d he said during a nationally televised news conference Thursday.
He said the government would roll out a contingency plan in the next week to deal with the fuel shortages.
D\u00edaz-Canel said there is a long list of issues that can be addressed between Cuba and the U.S. He said he’s willing to engage in dialogue on any issue, but without pressure or preconditions and with respect for the country’s sovereignty.
He said Cubans “do not hate” and recognize the values of the North American people. But the Cuban president said they’re preparing a “defense plan” and stated that Cuba is a nation of peace and not a threat to the U.S.
\u201cWe aren\u2019t in a state of war,\u201d D\u00edaz-Canel said, \u201cbut we are preparing ourselves in case we have to move to a state of war.\u201d
During a briefing Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt repeated President Donald Trump\u2019s claims that Cuba\u2019s government is about to collapse.
\u201cThe president is always willing to engage in diplomacy and I believe that\u2019s something that\u2019s taking place, in fact, with the Cuban government,\u201d she said.
Trump said over the weekend that the U.S.<\/a> is talking with \u201cthe highest people\u201d in Cuba, something Cuba\u2019s deputy foreign minister, Carlos de Cossio, confirmed Wednesday when he told CNN<\/a> that Cuba and the U.S. had \u201csome exchanges of messages\u201d that were \u201clinked\u201d to the highest levels of Cuba\u2019s government.
De Cossio has reiterated in multiple interviews<\/a> this week that there is no official bilateral dialogue or negotiation with the U.S. right now, but they are open to dialogue if certain criteria are met.
D\u00edaz-Canel said Cuba has not received oil shipments from Venezuela<\/a> since December. The South American country was the main provider of oil to Cuba, but that ended after the U.S. military operation that led to the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro on Jan. 3.
In Havana, reaction to the president’s upcoming contingency plan to grapple with fuel shortages was bleak.
\u201cThe future of Cuba is very dark,\u201d Frank Palomares, a publicist, said. \u201cIt\u2019s difficult for there to be changes here, and they tend to be delayed.\u201d
University student Melani Alarcon said: \u201cWe\u2019re going to be very bad off, without being able to do anything. In my case, I won\u2019t be able to study. There is no future in Cuba right now.\u201d
Trump has said he asked Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to stop oil shipments to Cuba. Mexico has been the second largest supplier of fuel to the island for years. Sheinbaum announced over the weekend that she would send food and other humanitarian aid to the island and called for diplomatic dialogue.
Since Maduro’s capture, the Trump administration has turned its focus to Cuba. Trump and others in his administration have said Cuba is a \u201cfailing nation\u201d and the government will fall.
It\u2019s unusual for the communist-run country\u2019s president to hold a news conference on short notice like he did Thursday. It reflects the mounting economic pressure Cuba is facing amid the rising tensions with the U.S.
Cuba has been in the midst of an acute economic crisis<\/a> for several years. The number of tourists arriving to the island has declined since the pandemic, and U.S. sanctions have cranked up since then. Chronic shortages in food and medicine have plagued the nation for years, and extended daily blackouts<\/a> due to oil shortages have worsened.
Carmen Sesin reported from Miami, and Orlando Matos reported from Havana.<\/em>
Carmen Sesin is a reporter for NBC News based in Miami, Florida.
Orlando Matos is an NBC News producer based in Havana, Cuba.\u00a0
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeHAVANA \u2014\u00a0Cuban President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel said the government is preparing for severe fuel shortages as he denounced the Trump administration’s measures that have cut oil supplies to the island.\u201cIt is reprehensible that a power such as the U.S. would adopt such a criminal policy against a country, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":199387,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-199386","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-us","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}