Aggression Against Cuba Is Not a Future Threat — It Is Already Underway
Aggression against Cuba is not something yet to materialize. It is not the danger of a possible future event, but rather an act that is already fully in progress.
It has been so for many years, in one form or another.
Its fundamental component is economic aggression, embodied in the most comprehensive and prolonged coercive system known to humanity, which has been imposed by the United States government on several generations of Cubans.
This aggression has escalated exponentially during the current year and continues to intensify.
The economic war imposed for more than six decades has been tightened to an unprecedented degree in recent months, with increasingly aggressive and ruthless measures being adopted.
The brutal energy blockade, now extending for more than five months, remains fully in place, with devastating consequences for the functioning of the country and the daily lives of its people.
Further reprisals are being announced, including the imposition of so-called secondary sanctions against foreign individuals and entities that have conducted or currently conduct business with Cuba, often without receiving the necessary support or protection from their respective governments against such a far-reaching expression of extraterritoriality.
These new and illegal coercive measures are intended to strangle the Cuban economy and completely cut it off from external sources of financing, foreign investment, and supplies of basic and essential goods.
The cost to the economy and the functioning of the country is immense and far-reaching. It is reflected in damage to electricity generation, public transportation, hospital services, industry, food production, the transport and distribution of essential supplies, drinking water services, and municipal services—in short, virtually every sphere of national life.
This is an aggressive and coldly calculated plan against a country with limited natural resources that has endured nearly 70 years of economic blockade restricting access to foreign currency earnings, external financing, markets, and technology. It is a plan designed to force an induced humanitarian crisis.
At the same time, new pretexts against Cuba are constantly being manufactured to justify the collective punishment being imposed on the Cuban people and even to justify an irresponsible military action against the country.
The crude and fraudulent accusation against the historic leader of the Revolution, Raúl Castro—which lacks any legal or moral basis and is suspiciously and opportunistically based on an event that occurred 30 years ago, for which the United States government bears full responsibility—is the latest and most blatant pretext.
It joins a long list of deliberately constructed falsehoods aimed at portraying Cuba as a threat it is not, as a failed state it has never been, while diverting attention from the direct and fundamental responsibility of U.S. policy and the destructive effects of its aggression in the deterioration and worsening of the living conditions of the Cuban population.
Cuba does not threaten the United States, its national security, its system of government, or its way of life.
There are no foreign military bases in Cuba, nor are there foreign forces operating against the United States from Cuban territory.
It is immoral to argue that the danger of a humanitarian crisis could become a threat justifying military aggression or economic warfare when it is known that such a crisis is being caused precisely by the U.S. government itself. It is cynical to claim that the crisis results from the alleged incompetence of the Cuban government or from supposed intrinsic flaws in Cuba’s economic model.
Increasingly, threats are being issued from within the U.S. government that reflect a clear intention to once again impose control over Cuba’s destiny, as it did for 60 years during the last century when it exercised complete neocolonial domination over the country.
All of this is combined with an intense communications and cognitive warfare campaign designed to discredit the Cuban government and hold it responsible for the critical situation facing the country, a situation that has been fostered by successive U.S. administrations.
From political circles, digital platforms, and established media outlets, statements, analyses, and commentaries are being disseminated that reflect growing coordination and complicity with efforts by the U.S. government to normalize the idea of aggression and make it acceptable to U.S. and international public opinion.
The danger of military aggression against Cuba grows every day.
There is no excuse that could justify a military attack against our country, which would inevitably cause destruction and the loss of Cuban and American lives.
Cuba does not seek conflict. We are, and have always been, a country of peace and solidarity that has fostered relationships of respect and friendship with other nations and peoples around the world, including the people of the United States.
As recently stated by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez: “We are a country of peace. We do not promote war; we do not like war. We promote solidarity and cooperation among peoples, but we are prepared to defend the peace we seek.”
We want peace, but not a peace without sovereignty or independence—a peace in which Cubans are not masters of their national wealth, in which the country is subjected to the tutelage of the U.S. government, and in which the economy once again becomes dependent on that of the United States.
That is not a peace we will accept.
If we are attacked, if the war we do not want is imposed upon us, we will face it with determination and preparedness, firmly resolved to defend our sovereignty and independence at any cost.
We have been, and remain, willing to engage in dialogue with the U.S. government to find understanding and solutions to bilateral issues. Not for interference in our internal affairs; not for the United States to dictate Cuba’s constitutional order, determine who may govern, define the country’s economic model, impose a relationship of dependence, or seek to control Cuba’s destiny through pressure, coercion, and threats of military aggression.
We hope that dialogue will prevail at this moment, when the aggressive actions undertaken by the U.S. government against Cuba raise doubts about the seriousness and responsibility with which it approaches this process.
We believe that the international community cannot passively watch as an entire people is deprived of its means of livelihood, as a whole population continues to be punished for motives of domination, and as a country is threatened militarily without any justification.
We know that Cuba is not alone in this struggle. We have witnessed countless expressions of solidarity and support—many in the form of valuable material assistance—from governments, parliaments, political organizations, public figures, non-governmental organizations from diverse sectors of society, Cubans living abroad, solidarity groups, individuals, and international organizations. To all of them, we reiterate the deepest gratitude of the Cuban people.
In the face of the U.S. offensive against Cuba and its government's complete disregard for international law and the most basic norms of coexistence among nations, the international community must reaffirm its solidarity with Cuba at this critical moment, when great dangers loom over the Cuban nation.
As our National Hero, José Martí, warned about the dangers of U.S. expansionism in Latin America: “Whoever rises today with Cuba rises for all time.”
Until Victory Always!
Unofficial Translation
(Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs)