‘Cuba will defend itself,’ deputy foreign minister says of possible U.S military action
Cuban Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Josefina Vidal Ferreiro said Wednesday that American military action against the country could lead to “thousands of deaths.”
If there’s military aggression, “there will be a lot of destruction and it doesn’t have any sense,” she told PBS News Hour co-anchor Amna Nawaz. Vidal said Cuba doesn’t seek conflict with the U.S. and hopes it can be avoided, but “it would be naive for us not to be ready in order to defend ourselves.”
“I’m sure that the Americans … will perfectly understand why Cubans are determined to defend our independence and not to have any foreign power to tell us what to do and how to do it,” Vidal said, nodding to the symbolism of America’s upcoming 250th birthday. “So this is the same sentiment, the same feeling you have for your independence that Cubans have for our independence. And we are determined to defend it because we cherish our independence.”
Trump has described Cuba as an “extraordinary threat” to the U.S., accusing the country of acting as a sanctuary for adversaries.
Vidal disputed that allegation.
“The United States government is not telling the truth,” she said. “On the contrary, we consider that the United States has always been an existential threat for Cuba.”
Watch the full interview on Wednesday’s PBS News Hour.
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