Cuba Responds to Latest U.S. Threats

From Raul Castro's indictment and power blackouts to a message for President Trump

In an exclusive interview for Full Measure, Cuba’s Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío tells me that President Donald Trump possesses both the political strength and the courage to finally resolve the decades-old standoff between the U.S. and Cuba.

“I believe that the current President of the United States, in our opinion, has the political strength and even the courage, I would say, to try to find a solution for a problem that is very old, that is older than we are,” de Cossío says. “And the current generations of Cubans and the current generations of Americans mostly don’t even understand how it began.”

The senior Cuban diplomat also delivered a direct message to Trump amid heightening tensions: Cuba wants no conflict with its powerful neighbor.

“Cuba is not an enemy of the United States. We don’t want to be an enemy of the United States. In fact, we’d like to have a constructive and, if possible, friendly relationship with the United States,” he says. “We would like no interference from a foreign government in our domestic affairs… We’re not asking for the U.S. to finance Cuba… If we’re going to fail, or if we’re going to succeed, to do it on our own.”

Fresh friction between the U.S. and our closest communist neighbor came on May 20, when the Justice Department unsealed an indictment charging former Cuban President Raúl Castro — who was Defense Minister at the time — and five other Cuban officials with murder, destruction of aircraft, and conspiracy related to the 1996 shoot-down of two unarmed Brothers to the Rescue planes.

De Cossío dismisses the charges as political theater.

“The initial comment is that it’s an opportunistic political move. That has no legal or moral grounds,” he says. He argues that the U.S. government bore primary responsibility because it failed to stop the exile group’s repeated, deliberate violations of Cuban airspace despite multiple warnings from Cuba. “The U.S. government knew that this was happening… and decided not to act.”

Raúl Castro, the younger brother of former dictator Fidel Castro, is now nearing age 95 and no longer in an official government position. However, he remains a highly influential and respected figure in Cuba, according de Cossio.

I also asked de Cossio about the severe economic hardship facing ordinary Cubans. He describes the situation as “a dire situation, very difficult economic situation,” worsened by intensified U.S. sanctions and the economic blockade.

Fuel shortages have triggered widespread blackouts, he says, sometimes lasting 18 hours or more, crippling daily life, hospitals, schools, transportation, and food storage.

“The main problem for everyday life is, today, electricity… It punishes each and every Cuban on a daily basis,” he told me. While he says that outright starvation has been avoided so far, he says that obtaining daily meals has become expensive and difficult. The diplomat blames U.S. measures, which he says are “deliberately” aimed at “creating a humanitarian crisis.”

Cuba is pursuing internal economic reforms to move away from its Soviet-style model, but progress has been slow, says de Cossio. U.S. restrictions on financing, technology, and markets are the biggest obstacles.

“If they were to be eased, we could move forward. We could advance these transformations,” he says.

The Trump administration maintains that Cuba remains a national security threat to the United States due to its deepening military and intelligence ties with China, Russia, and Iran. There are also U.S. intelligence reports of Chinese electronic eavesdropping and surveillance facilities on the island capable of monitoring U.S. communications.

Far from being a victim of unprovoked hostility, the Cuban regime is portrayed in the U.S. as a repressive authoritarian government that systematically violates human rights, suppresses dissent, and diverts resources to its military and elite while ordinary Cubans suffer.

U.S. policymakers argue that the economic sanctions — including recent measures targeting oil shipments— are necessary tools to pressure the regime toward democratic reforms and to prevent Cuba from serving as a forward base for America’s adversaries just 90 miles from our shores.

De Cossío firmly denies these portrayals, including the notion that China has a spy base on the island.

“That is not the case,” says de Cossio. “And the U.S. security agencies know that that is not the case. The only foreign military base in Cuba is in Guantanamo, and it’s a U.S. military base.”

He acknowledges U.S. worries about third-country ties but notes the irony: America maintains far larger economic relations with China itself.

The diplomat places current tensions in a long historical arc dating to the 1959 Cuban Revolution. After the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, an orchestrated effort by the U.S. to take out Fidel Castro, followed by 1962 Missile Crisis, the U.S. imposed a comprehensive embargo against Cuba. Cuba turned to the Soviet Union only after Washington refused to buy Cuban sugar and sell it oil, De Cossio says.

“We would have hoped that we could build the independence of Cuba with a civilized relationship with the United States. It was made impossible at the time.”

De Cossio says once it was clear the U.S. was advocating to depose or assassinate Fidel Castro, Castro pivoted to the Soviet Union for protection.

De Cossío says that today, his government seeks normal trade and investment ties with the U.S. without asking for financial aid. He reiterates that Cuban leaders remain ready for serious dialogue, but he says Washington D.C. must treat Cuba as a sovereign equal.

Whether the Trump administration will respond to that overture remains to be seen. For now, the channel of communication is open, even as the pressures continue to mount.

To hear the entire interview, listen to the podcast: After Hours: Cuba on the Cusp: A Direct Message to Trump.