HAVANA, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said Tuesday it is "cynical and hypocritical" for the United States to threaten using military forces to "liberate" the country after more than six decades of economic, commercial and financial embargo.
"The U.S. government insists in hinting at a military action against Cuba because 'the country is devastated... and it would be an honor to liberate it,'" Rodriguez wrote on X.
"The cynical and hypocritical thing about it is that the U.S. has spent decades trying to devastate the country with an economic war," he said, adding that the current U.S. administration has intensified such blockade in recent months through "genocidal" executive orders.
"Both the economic blockade and energy siege as well as the new extraterritorial coercive measures; the threat of a military attack and the aggression itself are international crimes," he said.
Speaking at a recent event in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States would take control of Cuba "almost immediately" after "finishing a job," referring to the conflict with Iran in the Middle East.
He also threatened to position the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln about "100 yards" off Cuba's coast after its return from that region.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Saturday urged the international community and the U.S. people to reject what he described as a criminal act serving the interests of "a small but wealthy and influential group" seeking revenge and domination.
"No aggressor, however powerful, will find surrender in Cuba," Diaz-Canel said on X. "They will encounter a people determined to defend sovereignty and independence in every inch of national territory." ■
