Cuba says its military is preparing for possible U.S. aggression on NBC
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Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío said Sunday that Cuba is preparing for possible U.S. aggression, even as Trump administration officials have signaled they are not planning an invasion anytime soon.
“Our army is always prepared and in fact these days it is preparing for the possibility of a military attack,” Fernández de Cossío said. he said. NBC News’ “Meet the Press” In an interview published Sunday.
“When we look at what’s going on in the world, we’d be naive if we didn’t do that.”
“But we really hope this doesn’t happen. We don’t understand why this should happen, and we can’t find any justification; why is the US government forcing its country to take military action against a neighboring country like Cuba?”
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Cuban Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio said his country would “absolutely” stand firm against regime change at the hands of President Donald Trump. (ADALBERTO ROQUE / AFP)
The Cuban official’s remarks came just days after President Donald Trump said it would be “a great honor” to be a president who has “the honor of taking Cuba.”
“Somehow to take Cuba, yes, take Cuba – I mean, even if I release it, take it: I think I can do anything I want with it, you want to know the truth,” Trump said, although Secretary of State Marco Rubio had emphasized diplomacy with the failed regime over any talk of invasion, as Trump’s statement might imply.
“They’re in big trouble, and the people in charge don’t know how to fix it,” Rubio said this week. “So they need to hold new people accountable.”
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump have repeatedly expressed their hope for Cuba to break free from its long-standing dictatorship. ((AP Photo/Evan Vucci))
However, Fernández de Cossío said that Cuba was “absolutely” against regime change, pointing out that he challenged Trump and Rubio’s public statements and paved the way for possible military action in the future.
“Our country, as a nation as a whole, was historically prepared to mobilize for military aggression,” Fernández de Cossío told NBC’s Kristen Welker. “We really always see this as something that’s far from us. We don’t believe it’s a possible thing. But we’d be naive if we didn’t prepare. I can tell you that.”
When asked if Cuba supported the United States “somehow accepting this,” Fernández de Cossío replied: “We don’t really know what they’re talking about.”
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“But I can tell you this: Cuba is a sovereign country and has the right to be a sovereign country and has the right to self-determination,” he added. “Cuba will not accept being a vassal state or dependent state of another country or another superpower.”
Fernández de Cossío said Cuba was ready to negotiate with Rubio, despite the foreign minister’s longstanding criticism of the Cuban government.
“As a sovereign nation, we are prepared to negotiate with whoever the U.S. government designates as its spokesman, its chief negotiator, and we are prepared to negotiate with whoever is designated by the U.S. government,” he said. “They are a sovereign nation. We are not interfering with that.”
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Throughout the interview, the Cuban diplomat described Havana’s position as defensive and said Cuba “does not have any quarrel with the United States” and wants a “respectful relationship,” while attributing the island’s worsening energy and economic crisis to U.S. pressure, including efforts to cut off fuel supplies. Recent reports have documented Cuba’s deepening blackout crisis and the Trump administration’s efforts to economically isolate the government.
“What does ‘alone’ mean when pushed by the United States?” Asked about Trump’s claim that Cuba could collapse on its own, Fernández de Cossío said: “That’s a very strange statement.”
His closing message to Trump was conciliatory, although he warned that Cuba was preparing for the worst.
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“Cuba has no problems with the United States,” Fernández de Cossío said. “We need and have the right to protect ourselves.
“But we’re willing to sit down, we’re open to doing business, and we’re all open to having a respectful relationship, and I’m sure the majority of Americans would support that, and I’m sure the president of the United States would support it, too, if we could sit down and talk meaningfully about this.”
