Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, the Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, gave an interview aired on Sunday, March 22 on the American television channel NBC.
In a troubling period marked by a new general power outage, Cuba is preparing for a potential invasion by the American army. During the interview broadcasted on Sunday on the American television channel NBC, Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, the Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, explained that the government is taking all necessary precautions. This comes as Donald Trump discussed the fate of the island last week.
“Indeed, our army is currently preparing for the possibility of a military aggression. Given what is happening in the world, we would be naive not to do so,”
he first explained. “But we hope that it will not happen. We don’t see why it would happen, how could it be justified?” he later questioned, reiterating that Cuba does not want conflict with the United States or worsen relations with Donald Trump. “We have the need and right to protect ourselves. But we are ready to sit down and discuss,” added Carlos Fernandez de Cossio.
Washington, opposed to the communist regime on the island since it took power in 1959, intensified its economic pressure in January by blocking all fuel supplies to the island, shortly after overthrowing its main ally, Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. In 1961, the United States failed to overthrow Fidel Castro’s regime during the failed Bay of Pigs operation.
On Monday, despite being busy in Iran, Donald Trump expressed his belief that he will “have the honor of taking Cuba,” without specifying exactly what he meant. He also mentioned “liberating” the country.
The authorities on the island were working on Sunday morning to restore electricity after a national power outage hit the country on Saturday evening, the seventh in over a year and a half.
The Deputy Minister, speaking in the interview with NBC recorded before this latest blackout, assured that his government “is acting as proactively as possible to address the situation.” “We truly hope that fuel will reach Cuba one way or another and that this boycott imposed by the United States will not last and cannot be maintained indefinitely,” he declared.
