Cuba’s top diplomat in Washington has said Cubans would defend themselves against any potential US military action.
“We are preparing to defend ourselves,” Ambassador Lianys Torres Rivera told The Hill news website in an interview published on Friday.
“And in the way that we are preparing, it’s not in an offensive way. It’s not that we are preparing to be the first to do any action against the US territory or against the US people. We don’t want that,” she said.
Torres Rivera warned that any military action “could be a bloodbath,” saying Cuba does not want “Cubans dying in Cuba” nor “any American soldier.”
Her remarks came as Cuba faces severe fuel shortages and prolonged blackouts amid a US blockade.
Torres Rivera reiterated that Cuba’s “sovereignty, independence and right to self-determination” were non-negotiable, while insisting Havana does not pose a threat to the US.
“We are a small island that wants only to be left alone to decide our future in the way that Cubans want,” she said.
