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Cuba calls U.S. pressure 'collective punishment' seeking 'social explosion'
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Economy & Trade

Cuba calls U.S. pressure 'collective punishment' seeking 'social explosion'

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Official statement Context piece
  • Cuba's President Miguel Díaz-Canel denounced U.S. pressure as "collective punishment" and a "crime" aimed at provoking social unrest.
  • He stated that U.S. sanctions, particularly on oil, are a "perverse" tactic to destabilize the island.
  • Díaz-Canel urged international solidarity, warning that such U.S. tactics could be applied to other nations.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has strongly condemned the United States' "maximum pressure" policy, labeling it a "collective punishment" and a "sadistic crime" designed to incite social upheaval on the island. Speaking to foreign sympathizers ahead of Cuba's national day, Díaz-Canel asserted that recent U.S. actions, including oil blockades and sanctions, are part of a "perverse" strategy.

Tell me if that is not collective punishment, a crime, if they are not condemning a people with the sadistic, perverse purpose of seeking that economic asphyxiation provokes a social explosion.

— Miguel Díaz-CanelCuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel describing the impact of U.S. pressure and sanctions on the Cuban population.

"Tell me if that is not collective punishment, a crime, if they are not condemning a people with the sadistic, perverse purpose of seeking that economic asphyxiation provokes a social explosion," Díaz-Canel stated, according to the Presidency's website. He argued that the international community must stand in solidarity with Cuba, warning that the U.S. could employ similar pressure tactics against other nations.

Díaz-Canel emphasized that supporting Cuba means defending the right of peoples to self-determination, sovereignty, and independence. He framed the struggle as a fight against hegemony and the ambitions of a superpower seeking to dictate terms globally. The president also acknowledged that U.S. pressure has significantly worsened chronic blackouts and contributed to the deterioration of the national health system, a traditional pillar of Cuban society.

Tomorrow it can happen to any other nation, if we continue to allow it.

— Miguel Díaz-CanelCuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel warning other nations about the potential for similar U.S. pressure tactics.

The U.S. government has pursued a policy of maximum pressure on Cuba since January, a stance the United Nations has deemed contrary to international law. While Washington calls for negotiations, its stated goal is to achieve political and economic change in Cuba. The intensified U.S. measures have had a tangible impact on daily life, exacerbating existing challenges on the island.

supporting Cuba is defending the right to self-determination of peoples, to sovereignty and independence.

— Miguel Díaz-CanelCuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel framing solidarity with Cuba as a defense of fundamental international principles.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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