Cuban President Claims US Sanctions Will Exacerbate Bilateral Tensions

Havana — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel stated on Thursday (4/6) that new sanctions imposed by Washington, alongside recent statements by US President Donald Trump, will further tighten the blockade against Cuba and deepen tensions between the two nations. The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced on Thursday that Díaz-Canel, several other individuals, and five entities, including the Cuban Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, have been added to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. Previously, Trump suggested that the US could shift its focus towards Cuba once the conflict with Iran subsides. In a post on the social media platform X, Díaz-Canel stated that these US measures are “aimed at strengthening the blockade and a scenario of conflict between Cuba and the US.” He added that the “coercive measures” implemented in recent weeks against Cuba are designed to harm the Cuban people, and that the “aggressiveness and criminality” of the US Government would be met with Cuban determination to “face the worst-case scenario and resist imperialist attacks.” Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez also stated on Thursday that the inclusion of Díaz-Canel and other Cuban entities on the sanctions list “is the latest evidence of US interventionist plans to portray Cuba as a threat to United States national security.” Writing on X, Rodríguez asserted that US actions intended to “build a scenario of conflict” between the two nations “will surely fail.”