Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and US President Donald Trump.
Sergey Bobylev | Nathan Howard | Reuters
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on Monday that his administration had not consulted with Washington, a day after President Donald Trump threatened the Caribbean island in the wake of the U.S. attack on Venezuela.
After President Trump suggested Cuba “make a deal before it’s too late,” Diaz-Canel posted a series of short statements on X. The details of the deal were not disclosed.
“For the U.S.-Cuba relationship to progress, it must be based on international law, not hostility, intimidation, or economic coercion,” Díaz-Canel wrote.
He added: “We remain ready to engage in serious and responsible dialogue with the various governments of the United States, including the current government, on the basis of sovereign equality, mutual respect, principles of international law, and reciprocity, without interference in internal affairs, and with full respect for our independence.”
His remarks were reposted on X by Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez.
President Trump wrote Sunday that Cuba can no longer survive on oil and gold from Venezuela. The United States attacked Venezuela on January 3, in a stunning operation that killed 32 Cuban officers and led to the arrest of President Nicolas Maduro.
Before the U.S. attack, Cuba was receiving an estimated 35,000 barrels a day from Venezuela, about 5,500 barrels a day from Mexico and about 7,500 barrels a day from Russia, said Jorge Piñon of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, who tracks shipping.
Despite oil being shipped from Venezuela, widespread power outages continue across Cuba due to fuel shortages and a collapsed power grid. Experts fear the oil shortage will only exacerbate the island’s multiple crises.
The situation between the United States and Cuba is “very sad and alarming,” said Andy S. Gomez, former dean of international studies and senior fellow in Cuban studies at the University of Miami.
He said he saw Diaz-Canel’s recent comments as “a way for people in the inner circle to try to buy some time to decide what steps to take.”
Gomez said he could not imagine Cuba reaching out to U.S. officials at this point.
“When President (Barack) Obama opened diplomatic relations with the United States, they had every opportunity, but they didn’t even put Cuban coffee on the table,” Gomez said. “Of course, these are desperate times for Cuba.”
Michael Gallant, senior fellow and outreach director at the Center for Economic Policy Research in Washington, D.C., said he believes Cuba may be open to negotiations.
“Cuba is interested in finding ways to ease sanctions,” he said. “It’s not that Cuba is uncooperative.”
Gallant said topics of discussion could include immigration and national security, adding that he believes Trump is in no hurry.
“Trump wants the island’s economic crisis to deepen, and there is little cost to him until it ends.” “There’s no rush to get to the table, so I think it’s unlikely we’ll see any dramatic action over the next few days.”
The Cuban president stressed to X that there is “no consultation with the U.S. government, except for technical contacts in the field of immigration.”
The island’s Communist government says US sanctions have cost the country more than $7.5 billion between March 2024 and February 2025.
