Cuba is “preparing” for the possibility of U.S. military aggression against the Caribbean island nation, a top Cuban official said Sunday.
“Our military is always prepared, and, in fact, it is preparing these days for the possibility of military aggression,” Cuba’s deputy foreign minister, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, told NBC News. “We would be naive, if looking at what’s happening around the world, we would not do that.”
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Fernández de Cossío added, “But we truly hope that it does not occur. We don’t see why it would have to occur. We find no justification whatsoever.”
He spoke as Cuba began restoring power after a nationwide electricity blackout, which Cuban officials have blamed on a U.S. energy blockade driven by President Donald Trump threats to impose tariffs on any country that provides oil to Cuba. Cuba’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canal, acknowledged last week that his government is in talks with the U.S. government.
Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have repeatedly warned that Cuba could be next to see U.S. military intervention, adding to a growing number of countries, including Venezuela and Iran, where the U.S. military has interfered.
