Ambassador Carlos de Cespedes says US pressure “will not subjugate” Cuba as Venezuelan oil exports to the island dry up.
Cuban diplomat accused US of ‘international piracy’ as Washington continues blockade Venezuelan oil to reach the Caribbean island following the US military attack on the nation and the kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro.
Carlos de Cespedes, Cuba’s ambassador to Colombia, told Al Jazeera on Saturday that the United States was imposing a “maritime siege” on the country.
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“Cuba faces more powerful U.S. threats than in the 67 years since the revolution,” de Cespedes said, referring to decades of punitive sanctions and military threats.
“The United States is engaged in international piracy in the Caribbean Sea which restricts and blocks the arrival of oil to Cuba. »
Since US forces kidnapped the people of Venezuela Maduro Earlier this month, the flow of oil from the country to Cuba virtually stopped.
Venezuela has been Cuba’s main oil supplier in recent decades.
US President Donald Trump said earlier this month that there would be “no” Venezuelan oil destined for Cuba now that Washington exerts its influence over Caracas under the threat of new military strikes.
The United States also intercepted and seized Venezuelan oil tankers in the Caribbean – a move that critics say amounts to piracy.
“Cuba is ready to fall” Trump projected on January 5. “Cuba has no income left. They get all their income from Venezuela, from Venezuelan oil. They don’t get any. Cuba is literally ready to fall.”
However, Cuba continued to import oil from other sources, notably Mexico.
But without Venezuelan oil, Cuba is already struggling economy could be approaching a breaking point.
Politico reported last week that the Trump administration was considering imposing a full energy blockade on the island – a move that could lead to a humanitarian crisis in the country of 11 million people.
Cuba maintained close trade and security relations with Maduro’s government. Nearly 50 Cuban soldiers were killed during the US kidnapping of the Venezuelan leader.
Washington has had hostile relations with Havana since the late President Fidel Castro came to power after the communist revolution that toppled U.S.-backed leader Fulgencio Batista in 1959.
The Trump administration has several anti-Cuban hawks, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is of Cuban origin.
A recent American National Security Strategy pointed out that Washington is shifting its foreign policy resources to the Western Hemisphere to dominate the Americas, reminiscent of the era of President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.
Trump invoked the Monroe Doctrine after the military attack earlier this month. It essentially advocates the division of the world into spheres of influence overseen by different powers.
President James Monroe first spoke of the doctrine on December 2, 1823, during his seventh annual State of the Union address to Congress, although the doctrine was not named in his honor until decades later. He warned European powers not to interfere in the affairs of the Americas, emphasizing that any such action would be considered an attack on the United States.
But de Cespedes, the Cuban diplomat, said U.S. pressure “won’t change anything.”
“It will not subdue us or break our resolve, even if a single drop of oil does not reach us,” he said.
“As we have learned from the thoughts of the anti-imperialist leader of our revolution, Fidel Castro, we are not afraid of the United States. We do not accept being threatened or terrorized. Those who seek peace must be prepared to defend it.”
