Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said that Havana will fight back against Washington should the Trump administration launch an invasion of the island.
Speaking to NBC News, Diaz-Canel warned the Trump administration against potentially invading the island or carrying out an operation similar to the one in Venezuela, when U.S. forces captured Venezuela's former authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro.
"If that happens, there will be fighting, and there will be a struggle, and we will defend ourselves, and if we need to die, we'll die, because as our national anthem says, 'Dying for the homeland is to live,'" Diaz-Canel added.
Elsewhere in the interview, the Cuban president said he won't step down despite the Trump administration's ongoing pressure. "In Cuba, the people who are in leadership positions are not elected by the U.S. government, and they don't have a mandate from the U.S. government," he said.
"We have a free sovereign state, a free state. We have self-determination and independence, and we are not subjected to the designs of the United States," he added, claiming that "stepping down is not part of our vocabulary."
A White House official reacted to the remarks, saying that the Trump administration is holding talks with the country and the president believes a deal can "be very easily made." "Cuba is a failing nation whose rulers have had a major setback with the loss of support from Venezuela," the official added.
Other reports have noted that the administration is holding talks with Cuban officials led by Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, grandson of Raul Castro and great-nephew of Fidel. He has appeared alongside senior Cuban officials in recent meetings and is now acting as an interlocutor in discussions with U.S. counterparts.
The emergence of Rodríguez Castro comes as the United States signals interest in broader negotiations over Cuba's political and economic future. According to reporting in early March, U.S. officials have explored potential reforms with figures connected to the Cuban leadership, including Rodríguez Castro, and have raised concerns about President Miguel Díaz-Canel, whom one source described as "an obstacle" to change.
Discussions have reportedly included the possibility of easing sanctions in exchange for reforms, though any leadership shift would represent a significant break with Cuba's longstanding emphasis on institutional continuity.
