Cuban president says he’s willing to talk to U.S. but preparing a ‘defense plan’ as fuel crisis worsens

HAVANA — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said the government is preparing for severe fuel shortages as he denounced the Trump administration’s measures that have cut oil supplies to the island.

“It is reprehensible that a power such as the U.S. would adopt such a criminal policy against a country, as it affects food, transportation, hospitals, schools, economic production and the functioning of our vital systems,” Díaz-Canel said.

“We are going to take measures that, while not permanent, will require effort. What else are we to do?” he said during a nationally televised news conference Thursday.

He said the government would roll out a contingency plan in the next week to deal with the fuel shortages.

Díaz-Canel said there is a long list of issues that can be addressed between Cuba and the U.S. He said he’s willing to engage in dialogue on any issue, but without pressure or preconditions and with respect for the country’s sovereignty.

He said Cubans “do not hate” and recognize the values of the North American people. But the Cuban president said they’re preparing a “defense plan” and stated that Cuba is a nation of peace and not a threat to the U.S.

“We aren’t in a state of war,” Díaz-Canel said, “but we are preparing ourselves in case we have to move to a state of war.”

During a briefing Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt repeated President Donald Trump’s claims that Cuba’s government is about to collapse.

“The president is always willing to engage in diplomacy and I believe that’s something that’s taking place, in fact, with the Cuban government,” she said.

Trump said over the weekend that the U.S. is talking with “the highest people” in Cuba, something Cuba’s deputy foreign minister, Carlos de Cossio, confirmed Wednesday when he told CNN that Cuba and the U.S. had “some exchanges of messages” that were “linked” to the highest levels of Cuba’s government.

De Cossio has reiterated in multiple interviews this week that there is no official bilateral dialogue or negotiation with the U.S. right now, but they are open to dialogue if certain criteria are met.

Díaz-Canel said Cuba has not received oil shipments from Venezuela since December. The South American country was the main provider of oil to Cuba, but that ended after the U.S. military operation that led to the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3.

In Havana, reaction to the president’s upcoming contingency plan to grapple with fuel shortages was bleak.

“The future of Cuba is very dark,” Frank Palomares, a publicist, said. “It’s difficult for there to be changes here, and they tend to be delayed.”

University student Melani Alarcon said: “We’re going to be very bad off, without being able to do anything. In my case, I won’t be able to study. There is no future in Cuba right now.”

Trump has said he asked Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to stop oil shipments to Cuba. Mexico has been the second largest supplier of fuel to the island for years. Sheinbaum announced over the weekend that she would send food and other humanitarian aid to the island and called for diplomatic dialogue.

Since Maduro’s capture, the Trump administration has turned its focus to Cuba. Trump and others in his administration have said Cuba is a “failing nation” and the government will fall.

It’s unusual for the communist-run country’s president to hold a news conference on short notice like he did Thursday. It reflects the mounting economic pressure Cuba is facing amid the rising tensions with the U.S.

Cuba has been in the midst of an acute economic crisis for several years. The number of tourists arriving to the island has declined since the pandemic, and U.S. sanctions have cranked up since then. Chronic shortages in food and medicine have plagued the nation for years, and extended daily blackouts due to oil shortages have worsened.

Carmen Sesin reported from Miami, and Orlando Matos reported from Havana.