{"id":207520,"date":"2026-04-13T10:58:39","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T10:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/cubas-president-says-we-would-die-to-defend-against-u-s-invasion-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T10:58:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T10:58:39","slug":"cubas-president-says-we-would-die-to-defend-against-u-s-invasion-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/cubas-president-says-we-would-die-to-defend-against-u-s-invasion-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuba's president says 'we would die' to defend against U.S. invasion – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel stood by Cuba\u2019s leadership and didn\u2019t concede a need for any changes to its government amid President Donald Trump\u2019s pressure campaign against the communist country.
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In a wide-ranging interview with NBC News\u2019 \u201cMeet the Press\u201d moderator Kristen Welker in Havana on Thursday, D\u00edaz-Canel said there\u2019s no \u201cjustification for the United States to launch a military aggression against Cuba.\u201d
\u201cAn invasion to Cuba would have costs. … It would affect the security of Cuba, the United States and of the region,\u201d he said <\/strong>through a translator in his first American broadcast interview.
\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\u201d the Cuban president said.
\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 D\u00edaz-Canel said.<\/p>\n

Welker asked D\u00edaz-Canel whether he was willing to commit to responding to \u201ckey demands\u201d from the U.S., including releasing political prisoners, scheduling multiparty elections and recognizing unions and a free press.
\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 answered, adding that those issues are \u201cextensively manipulated.\u201d
Welker then pressed D\u00edaz-Canel on the issue of political prisoners, asking whether Cuba would commit to their release and specifically naming Cuban rapper Maykel Osorbo, a Latin Grammy winner who has been in prison since 2021<\/a> for writing a protest song after thousands of Cubans took to the streets<\/a> to protest conditions and shortages during the Covid pandemic.
D\u00edaz-Canel did not commit to releasing political prisoners and rejected their characterization as such, saying there are people in Cuba who are not in favor of the revolution \u201cand manifest themselves on a daily basis\u201d who are not in prison.
\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.
International human rights organizations like PEN International <\/a>and Amnesty International<\/a> have called for Osorbo\u2019s release.
There is evidence that the Trump administration\u2019s pressure campaign has been felt in the country. Around mid-March, Cuban officials took a sharp turn in their tone toward the U.S., saying they are prepared to confront any attacks from the U.S. The government ordered an increase in military exercises that often air during national newscasts.
D\u00edaz-Canel has insisted Cuba\u2019s position is \u201centirely defensive and not aggressive,\u201d and he\u2019s made similar remarks in recent speeches and interviews.
\u201cAgain, let me repeat. This is not what we want. We don\u2019t want war. We don\u2019t want an attack,\u201d he said.
D\u00edaz-Canel urged a dialogue based on \u201crespect\u201d between the two countries\u2019 forms of government.
Welker asked if it was possible to \u201cget a deal with President Trump.\u201d
\u201cI think dialogue and deals with the U.S. government are possible,\u201d D\u00edaz-Canel answered, \u201cbut they\u2019re difficult.\u201d He said he had not spoken to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and he doesn\u2019t know him.
Trump said last month when asked about Cuba that there may be \u201ca friendly takeover, it may not be a friendly takeover.\u201d <\/a>Rubio told reporters on March 27, \u201cYou have to change the people in charge,\u201d adding the country was a \u201cdisaster\u201d because its economic system didn\u2019t work.
In response to D\u00edaz-Canel\u2019s comments to NBC News, a White House official on Thursday said that the administration is talking to Cuba, adding its leaders want to make a deal and should make a deal, which Trump believes \u201cwould be very easily made.\u201d
\u201cCuba is a failing nation whose rulers have had a major setback with the loss of support from Venezuela,\u201d the White House official said Thursday.
Throughout the interview, D\u00edaz-Canel blamed the 67-year-old U.S. economic embargo when he was asked about Cuba\u2019s existing conditions, including its electricity crisis as well as ongoing supply shortages and poverty<\/a>.
When asked whether Cuba would \u201ctake some responsibility\u201d and change its economic system to relieve suffering in the country, D\u00edaz-Canel said, \u201cThat\u2019s got nothing to do with the political system.\u201d
The U.S. imposed the embargo in 1962 <\/a>as a response to Fidel Castro\u2019s confiscation of American businesses and properties on the island following the 1959 revolution.
D\u00edaz-Canel called the embargo \u201cgenocidal and cruel\u201d and said that even during the Covid pandemic, the policy prevented the country from accessing certain components \u2014 though he touted his country\u2019s ability to manufacture a Covid vaccine and other equipment.
\u201cI think the U.S. government should review how cruel and how mean they\u2019ve been to Cuba and to the Cuban people,\u201d he said.
When asked why Cuba hasn\u2019t made reforms like other communist or one-party countries like Vietnam and China, D\u00edaz-Canel cited the embargo as well as the fact that Cuba is an island 90 miles from the U.S.
Cuba produces less than 40% of the fuel it needs and relies on imports to operate its crumbling electric grid. Venezuela was Cuba\u2019s main supplier of oil until it was cut off following the U.S. capture of former President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro.
Trump then threatened to impose tariffs on any country that sells or supplies oil to Cuba, though he recently said he had \u201cno problem\u201d with a Russian oil tanker delivering relief to the island.
People were already dealing with inflation, shortages and blackouts, and the shortage has exacerbated<\/a> an already dire situation.
Amid the massive fuel shortage, D\u00edaz-Canel said Cuba was open to doing business with U.S. companies.
\u201cWe\u2019re open for foreign investment in Cuba in oil exploration and drilling. And that\u2019ll be an opportunity for American businessmen and firms who can come and participate in Cuba in the energy sector,\u201d D\u00edaz-Canel said.
It is against U.S. law for Americans (individuals and companies) to invest in Cuba\u2019s oil sector, but the Treasury Department\u2019s Office of Foreign Assets Control can issue a license allowing an American company to do so.
D\u00edaz-Canel cited collaborations between the U.S. and Cuba such as medical research and combating drug trafficking as he agreed there\u2019s a need to engage in dialogue.
But he also alluded to the war in the Middle East \u2014 and the Trump administration\u2019s previous calls for dialogue.
\u201cThe U.S. has been engaged in talks with other countries, and while these negotiations are underway, they have attacked those countries, and all of this creates a lot of distrust,\u201d D\u00edaz-Canel said.
Nicole Acevedo reported from New York, Carmen Sesin from Miami and Orlando Matos from Havana.<\/em>
Nicole Acevedo is a news reporter for NBC News.
Carmen Sesin is a contributor to NBC News and is 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":"

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