Cuban leader says US aggression will meet “invincible resistance”

HAVANA (AP) — Cuban President Miguel Diaz has criticized Canel after US President Donald Trump said he can do “whatever he wants” with the Caribbean island and that Washington could take “imminent action” against it.

Diaz-Canel said late Tuesday that the Trump administration “openly threatens” the Cuban government on an almost daily basis with overthrow, and any aggressive action “will meet with impenetrable resistance.”

These statements came after new threats made by Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said that the Cuban government’s socialist economic model needs to “change dramatically.”

While the Cuban government imposes severe restrictions on the country’s private sector, decades of US sanctions have crippled the Cuban economy.

The Trump administration is looking forward to Diaz-Canel leaving while the United States continues to negotiate with the Cuban government, according to a US official and a source familiar with the talks between Washington and Havana. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss sensitive conversations.

No details were provided about who the administration might want to see in power.

Trump’s comments on Cuba came more than two months after his administration’s military raid led to the arrest of then-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January, and just weeks after the launch of joint US-Israeli military strikes against Iran on February 28.

Read more: Trump suggests US could conduct ‘friendly takeover of Cuba’

The administration has effectively halted vital oil exports to Cuba, pushing the Caribbean nation to the brink.

The Cuban people, who Trump and Rubio say they want to help, have been left reeling.

Overnight, activist groups from various countries delivered five tons of medical equipment, solar panels and other aid, according to Cuban state television, while the island suffered crippling power outages.

Rigoberto Zarza, European Director of the Cuban Institute for Friendship with Peoples, said that aid, especially solar panels, will be crucial to help health institutions.

He added, “The support provided by this aid is of great importance, not only for what it represents in financial and medical terms.”

Seung Min Kim, Aamer Madhani and Will Weisert contributed to this report from Washington.