Díaz-Canel Accuses U.S. of Nazi Practices, Seeks to 'Appropriate Entire Country'

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel drew a stark parallel between the U.S. government and Nazi practices on Sunday, accusing Washington of implementing a "genocidal policy" against the island with the aim of "appropriating the entire country." Speaking in Pinar del Río during the 73rd anniversary of the failed Moncada Barracks assault, a pivotal event leading to the 1959 revolution, Díaz-Canel framed the current U.S. pressure as part of a pattern affecting other nations.

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Before it was Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. Today it is Cuba. Tomorrow it could be any other nation.

"Today it is Cuba. Tomorrow it could be any other nation," Díaz-Canel warned, asserting that his country is not the first nor the last victim of U.S. policies. He characterized officials at the State Department as modern versions of medieval military scribes or Nazi occupiers, adept at imposing sanctions and fabricating pretexts. The president described the intensified pressure as a "coldly calculated genocide" within a campaign of "maximum asphyxiation," citing the ongoing oil blockade and subsequent waves of sanctions, including secondary sanctions.

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the officials of the State Department, experts in drafting sanctions, making lists and inventing pretexts, are a modern version of the drafters of military edicts and proclamations that were so feared and hated in the dark medieval times or in the Nazi occupations in World War II.

Díaz-Canel condemned the latest sanctions, calling them a "record of infamy" for targeting Cuban medical missions abroad, which Havana views as international solidarity but Washington labels as modern slavery. "It is illegal and criminal to martyr a people just to provoke them to rebel against their government," he added. The speech, delivered under the slogan "My Moncada is the homeland," was attended by high-ranking government and Communist Party officials, though key figures like former President Raúl Castro were absent.

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a 'coldly calculated genocide' by the U.S. government within a campaign of 'maximum asphyxiation' against the island.

While maintaining a combative tone towards the U.S., Díaz-Canel acknowledged that Cuba is navigating "one of the most difficult moments in its history." He described "challenging crudeness" in daily life, marked by prolonged power outages and a general decline in living standards. To address these challenges, he reiterated that implementing "profound and necessary changes" through a recently approved package of 176 reforms is a "strategic priority." These reforms aim to liberalize, open up, and decentralize the island's centrally planned economy, representing what experts consider the most significant economic transformation plan since the 1959 revolution.

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The latest sanctions 'break the record of infamy,' because they are directed against Cuban medical missions abroad, which Havana calls international solidarity but Washington calls modern slavery.