Speaking on May 26, 2026, before a packed audience in New York City, Cuba’s foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla blasted Washington’s escalating aggression against his country and noted the dangerous precedent that U.S. actions toward the island set for every other sovereign nation in the world.

From the podium at the Cuban Mission to the United Nations, Rodríguez stated that the U.S. blockade, including the naval interdiction of petroleum shipments this year, constitutes an act of war. “This is a coldly calculated aggression that takes advantage of the well-known limitations of the Cuban economy,” he said. “It is a plan to bring about and induce a humanitarian crisis.”

The effort to asphyxiate the Cuban people economically, the recent indictment in U.S. federal court of revered Cuban revolutionary leader Raúl Castro,^[1] and the implicit and explicit military threats by Trump and other U.S. officials pose “a great dilemma for the entire international community,” Rodríguez noted. “In the face of these actions, no state will be able to act in a sovereign and independent manner or exercise the sovereignty of its people…. No state will be able to defend the concept that only its national courts will have jurisdiction over its own affairs.”

Rodríguez reiterated Cuba’s willingness to engage in talks with Washington. However, he added, “Cuba’s political and economic order is not … part … of that exchange…. We will never discuss with the U.S. government … the sovereignty, independence, and the free self-determination of Cubans.”

“We are a peace-loving country,” the foreign minister said, “and we want peace. But not a peace without sovereignty, without independence, where Cubans are not the owners of the national wealth, where the country is submitted to the total control of the U.S. government and the economy goes back to a relation of dependence on the U.S. economy. We don’t accept that peace.”

The Cuban people, Rodríguez affirmed, are prepared to defend their revolution — even against the massive nuclear power to the north. “This is and this will continue to be the revolution by the humble, with the humble, and for the humble,” he emphasized. “This is the socialist and anti-imperialist revolution of the Cuban workers who took to the streets.”

In his remarks, Rodríguez thanked solidarity organizations and activists around the world, in particular those assembled at the Cuban Mission. They included sponsors of protests beginning May 31 as a response to the most recent U.S. threats of war against Cuba.

Those who spoke briefly from the podium were: Ike Nahem, Cuba Sí NY-NJ Coalition; Omowale Clay, Chairman of the December 12th Movement; César Omar Sánchez, Co-Chair of the National Network on Cuba; Manolo De Los Santos, Executive Director of The People’s Forum; Claudia De la Cruz, Executive Director Inter-religious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO); Danny Valdes, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), representing Cuban Americans for Cuba; and Rosemari Mealy, longtime activist-educator and author of Fidel and Malcolm X: Memories of a Meeting.

We are posting below a video of the Cuban foreign minister’s address, alongside a transcript of his remarks, for the information of our readers. Rodríguez spoke in English. The headline, subheadings, transcription (lightly edited for clarity), photos, and notes are by World-Outlook.

— World-Outlook editors

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Cuba’s Foreign Minister Addresses U.S. Cuba Solidarity Groups in New York

Transcript of remarks by Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez

By Bruno Rodríguez

Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening, dear friends, colleagues.

I was [on edge] waiting for the green light, but I’m amazed about the level of attendance of this meeting. I really appreciate your attendance and your courageousness in the midst of this very slanderous crusade, [and the] very witch-hunt^[2] just launched against the progressive movement, against the social movement.

You can count on our full loyalty to the special bonds between the American people and the Cuban people for the sake of the American people and the Cuban people.

Dear friends of the solidarity movement with Cuba in the U.S., thank you. Thank you very much.

My deepest gratitude to each and every one of you and to the vast international movement that you represent for your persistent, tireless, and victorious solidarity with the Cuban people.

Cuba is currently facing one of the most serious junctures in its contemporary history. The threat of a military aggression against Cuba has been escalating in the course of this year to very dangerous levels.

The economic warfare imposed since decades has been strengthened during the last few months in an unprecedented way with ever more aggressive and ruthless measures. The U.S. government efforts to completely disconnect Cuba from the global economy have intensified and have brutally deprived the country from fuel supplies since January this year or even before.

The cost for the economy and the country’s performance has been huge and crosscutting. It has impacted power generation, public transportation, hospital services, industry, food production, transportation, and distribution of supplies for people’s consumption, the availability of drinking water, public utilities, and virtually all spheres of life.

Added to this are the threats and coercion against companies, banks, shipping companies, and any other entity that have commercial or relations with or investments in the Cuban economy. They have caused several of these companies to adopt the decision to put an end to their commercial relations with Cuba with a consistent additional damage to the economy and to the life of the Cubans.

A coldly calculated aggression

This is a coldly calculated aggression that takes advantage of the well-known limitations of the Cuban economy given its condition as a developing country with scarce major natural resources and subjected for almost 70 years to an economic blockade that restricts access to financial revenues, markets, and technology. It is a plan to bring about and induce a humanitarian crisis.

The U.S. government insists on saying that the Cuban government is to blame for the economic problems that Cuba faces and denies the destructive effect of its aggression.

The U.S. government a few weeks ago announced the promise of humanitarian aid that is worth $100 million dollars, a figure that stands in contrast with the billions and billions of dollars in damages caused every year by the policy of economic coercion.

We will wait and see if it truly materializes and how Cuba accepts this offer if it is truly humanitarian aid without tricks or political opportunism and despite the cynicism that accompanies the offer.

The U.S. government has said it wishes the reception and distribution of the material aid to be carried out by the Catholic church, and we have no objections with the participation on this humanitarian process by the Catholic church or Protestant church in our country. We have absolutely no objections as we accumulate a long experience of working with Christian churches in humanitarian works.

But the only effective assistance that the U.S. government could provide to the noble people of Cuba at this time, or at any other time, would be to deescalate the energy, economic, commercial… [Interrupted by applause]

It would be to deescalate the energy, economic, commercial, and financial blockade measures, which have been strengthened as never before in recent months and are severely affecting all sectors of the Cuban economy and society, every Cuban family.

Just consider: They offer humanitarian aid of $100 million dollars, but the damages caused by the implementation of the blockade for five days, only five days, less than a week, is equivalent to $100 million.

A similar [amount] in fuel could be enough to generate power, $100 million dollars for fuel, would be enough to generate power for only 15 days with a limited consumption level.

The pretexts wielded by the U.S. to justify its increasing aggressiveness are diverse and none of them will stand an honest scrutiny.

Cuba does not threaten nor does it pose any threat to the United States. There are no foreign military bases in Cuba or any foreign forces acting against the U.S. from our territory. The only exception is the illegal presence of the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo against the will and the national sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the Republic of Cuba.

It is immoral to claim that the danger of a humanitarian crisis could become a threat that would justify a military aggression or an economic warfare when it is very well known that the crisis is being induced precisely by the U.S. government itself in a deliberate design. It is cynical, totally cynical, to claim that this crisis is a result of the alleged incompetence of the Cuban government or the evils inherent to the socialist economic model.

Given the lack of sustainable arguments, on May 20 last, the U.S. government formalized a criminal indictment against Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, leader of the Cuban Revolution, which lacks every legal or moral ground. It is an immoral effort to state the argument that would serve as a pretext to carry out a military and irresponsible action against Cuba.

Trump’s executive orders

Dear sisters and brothers, Cuba is neither an “unusual” nor an “extraordinary” threat to U.S. security as is claimed in the executive orders signed by President Trump on January 29th and on May 1st this year, which is a deliberate lie. It’s totally slanderous. It is ridiculous, this consideration [that] the tiny island of Cuba could be a threat to the national security of this nuclear superpower.

It is my country, it is Cuba, the nation that is being threatened and under attack.

In a radio interview on January 8 last, the president of the United States said [paraphrasing], “Well, I don’t think we can put much more pressure than [going in] and destroying everything.”

The president had been asked if he would apply additional economic pressure measures against Cuba and he recognized that the U.S. had almost completely exhausted its arsenal and that the only thing left was to enter and destroy everything.

No one should have any doubts about the determination of the Cuban people to defend their sovereignty, their independence, and their self-determination. [Applause]

If the most reactionary sectors, neoconservative, neofascist sectors of the U.S. extreme right prevail in their aggressive approach, they will find a united people ready to confront any aggression against our homeland.

We are not naive. A military aggression could have unpredictable consequences for the region and for Cuba in particular. It is our desire to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe, the shedding of blood, and the death of both our compatriots and American youth.

Should a military action take place, the war-mongering seal of the current neofascist in the White House will clash with the resolve, preparedness, and tradition of the soul of the Cuban people.

And anyone would wonder: What justification could the U.S. government of this nuclear superpower possibly have for such a barbaric, brutal, crude, and uncivilized act?

What excuses could be made to justify dozens or thousands of deaths and bring about destruction and suffering?

What could be the goal? What would happen next?

What impact would a military adventure of this nature have on the destabilization of the region, damaging the main trade and air routes that supply the eastern part of the United States?

Could this be intended to murder hundreds of thousands of Cubans and bring about the destruction of the country? Could this [aim] to create a situation of lawlessness, misery, disease, and unpredictable calamities?

Who would benefit from such a situation, which we are sure will not occur because Cuba has the capacity to prevent it, to shorten it and effectively defend its independence, sovereignty, and self-determination.

An act of war

This poses a great dilemma for the entire international community. In the face of these actions, no state will be able to act in a sovereign and independent manner or exercise the sovereignty of its people. No state will be able to consider that the only sphere of application within its territory is its national laws. No state will be able to defend the concept that only its national courts will have jurisdiction over its own affairs unless they take a stand today in favor of justice, in favor of Cuba.

The tightening of the blockade over the past 10 years has obviously had an impact in terms of social and humanitarian consequences and on our economic performance.

Since 2019, with the introduction of 243 new coercive measures, the U.S. government has made increased efforts to deprive Cuba from its supplies, including fuel supplies during the summer of the year 2020.

This is an act of war. This is not acceptable. This is not possible in a situation of peace. It is an act of war. It is equivalent to a naval blockade. It is an action that causes extraordinary harm to our people and to every Cuban family and that is also having a very serious impact on our economy.

In fact, it started to affect us from early on when the U.S. military commanders began to pursue, interdict, and confiscate foreign oil tankers in the Caribbean and beyond. It is known that Cuba cannot for the time being produce all the crude oil or fuel required to sustain the life of the people and our economy. Cuba needs to import fuel in the exercise of an internationally recognized right to freedom of trade and navigation.

When the U.S. pursues fuel, it not only stops a vessel or harms a supplier, a shipping company or an insuring company. It hurts transportation in Cuba, affects medical services, health services, the life of millions and millions of people.

It harms our children, the elderly, the ill, and does so with an intent to sow despair.

This is an unprecedented situation in a world in which a superpower abuses on a customary basis its capacity to impose on virtually all states the prohibition to act in a sovereign manner. And in the case of Cuba, it bans the exports of its own domestic products to any country it wants and prohibits the U.S. citizens from visiting Cuba.

This is not only a criminal attack against Cuba, but also against the sovereign prerogative of states. It is an unacceptable act of intimidation against any country.

The brutally reinforced blockade has a devastating and incalculable impact on the daily life of the Cuban people. It is an act of genocide and a collective punishment that causes extraordinary humanitarian harm, suffering, deprivations, and extreme hardships to Cuban families.

The energy blockade has had an impact on power generation, which has led to prolonged power outages, difficulties in water pumping, and disruptions in the supply of LPG. The production and distribution of food, goods and services, transportation and medical services affecting the lives of millions of people are disrupted.

Cuba’s infant mortality rate doubled due to U.S. blockade

Currently, the infant mortality rate in Cuba has doubled. At the end of the year 2025, it stood at 9.9 deaths per thousand live births.

Similarly, the survival rate for children suffering from cancer dropped from 85% to 65%.

Around a 100,000 patients, including 12,000 children, are awaiting surgery. It is critical, this figure, because the [doubling] of the infant mortality rate means newborn children dying. Creating shortages, deprivations, and complete suffocation to provoke a social situation that would lead to the overthrow of the Cuban Revolution has always been the true purpose^[3] of the United States hostility and perverse policy towards Cuba.

The consequences are not as severe for Cuba as they would likely be for the vast majority of nations precisely because of the orderly human-centered nature and social justice of our socialist socioeconomic and political model.

It is remarkable to see how Cuban families have adapted to these critical circumstances and how our people in a creative, innovative, resilient, and a steadfast manner, yet at the same time optimistic and cheerful, face the consequences.

Some wonder how long Cuba could withstand the energy blockade or the current conditions. The answer is to be found in our public squares and the streets across the entire nation. Our people are fully determined to overcome these challenges and move forward even in the worst-case scenarios.

In Cuba, we produce nearly half of the oil that we consume, and we are able to refine using a new Cuban technology. It is an important technological, recent success in the planet. [Applause]

These minerals are critical. We have sufficient arable land, competitive.

The Cuban people are the key actors

But what is most important is the people, the Cuban people, which are the key actors of the Cuban Revolution, key actors of the Cuban truly democratic system.

Under the current threatening circumstances, the government has not remained idle. It has updated and relaxed regulations for direct foreign investments. New opportunities have been opened for Cubans residing in the U.S. or abroad to participate in our social economic development program.

Priority has been given to speed up the transformation of the energy matrix in our country through important investments in photovoltaic solar energy sources, for which we are receiving invaluable assistance from friendly countries.

We are promoting the production of foodstuff to achieve food sovereignty by improving our financial and banking systems, always trying to reduce and mitigate the existing social inequalities without renouncing the fraternal assistance and cooperation with other countries, which is a Cuban fundamental tradition laid by commander-in-chief Fidel Castro Ruz.^[4]

Terrorist attacks on Cuba organized from U.S. soil

The blockade is not the only form of aggression. With tolerance and impunity, violent, and terrorist acts are being perpetrated from the U.S. territory against Cuba. Up to now, there is continued instigation to violence and sedition.

This is also accompanied by a government multi-million-[dollar] program that supports cognitive warfare against the Cuban people. According to social media, the two most frequent trending topics are the U.S. blockade and solidarity with Cuba, which reinforce the same narrative.

Cuba is a state under harassment.

Cuba is a state under attack.

Cuba is a state under aggression.

Cuba is not an inefficient state.

It is the denial of one of the main trending topics that U.S. imperialism has attempted to plant in the consciousness of persons.

We have started a process of exchanges, diplomatic exchanges, with the government of the United States. This is nothing extraordinary. We did so in the past with almost all U.S. administrations. If my memory serves me right, there have been 13 since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution. Fidel, Raúl, Díaz-Canel, the leadership of the party, the state, and the government have always been willing to establish a respectful, serious, and responsible dialogue to try to solve our profound political differences.

There has been former experience, and we are ready to move forward down that path. There are bilateral issues on which we can discuss, and both peoples could find it convenient to find a solution.

Cuba’s political and economic order is not, is not part in any way of that exchange. No domestic issue, no domestic issue in relation to our people or our revolution could be part of the talks with the United States. [Applause]

We will never discuss with the U.S. government those issues that are only inherent to the sovereignty, independence, and the free self-determination of Cubans.

We keep on struggling, dreaming

I can assure you that we keep on struggling and that we will keep on struggling, dreaming, committed to the continued improvement of our socialist construction process. We shall continue to move on down the path towards the achievement of the greatest possible social justice, its maximum protection and defense, and its sustainability.

This is and this will continue to be the revolution by the humble, with the humble, and for the humble. This is the socialist and anti-imperialist revolution of the Cuban workers who took to the streets. [Applause]

We will remain faithful to the ideas of Martí,^[5] feeling that homeland is humanity and we will continue being profoundly internationalist like Fidel and Che Guevara^[6] until the ultimate consequences.

We resist thanks to the unshakable determination of my compatriots and thanks to the solidarity of millions of friends around the world.

We are a peace-loving country and we want peace. But not a peace without sovereignty, without independence, where Cubans are not the owners of the national wealth, where the country is submitted to the total control of the U.S. government and the economy goes back to a relation of dependence on the U.S. economy. We don’t accept that peace.

We have received numerous expressions of solidarity, including material assistance from many parts of the world.

Cuba resists.

Cuba does not give in.

We know we have friends in the United States and that certainty makes us feel stronger. [Applause]

Please accept the profound gratitude of the Cuban people, of the Cuban nation.

Long live the friendship between the peoples of the United States and Cuba.

Thank you very much. [Applause and standing ovation]

NOTES

[1] Raúl Castro Ruz, a lifelong leader of the Cuban Revolution, was the former Commander of Cuba’s Revolutionary Armed Forces and served as the country’s president, prior to Miguel Díaz-Canel, from 2008 to 2018. He holds the title General of the Army, Cuba’s highest military post. Castro, who is now 94 years old, was indicted by the U.S. justice department on May 20, 2026, on charges of murder and conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens stemming from a 1996 incident over Cuban territorial waters.

[2] The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has sent subpoenas to Twitch streamer Hasan Piker and CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin over their March trip to Cuba with the Nuestra América Convoy to deliver humanitarian aid to the island.

[3] In April 1960, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state Lester Mallory wrote an internal memo under the heading “The Decline and Fall of Castro,” giving a brief analysis of “considerations in respect to the life of the present Government of Cuba” and proposing the initial steps that led to a ban on all U.S. trade with Cuba later that year. The memorandum suggested, “The only foreseeable means of alienating internal support is through disenchantment and disaffection based on economic dissatisfaction and hardship.” The full text of the Mallory memorandum can be accessed here: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Cuba, Volume VI – Office of the Historian.

[4] Fidel Castro Ruz was the central leader of the Cuban revolution. He served as Cuba’s president from 1976 until his  retirement in 2008. He died in 2016.

[5] Born in Havana in 1853, José Martí was a poet and essayist who died in battle in 1895 fighting for Cuba’s independence from Spain. His patriotism and martyrdom made his name a symbol for liberty throughout Latin America. He is considered Cuba’s national hero.

[6] Ernesto “Che” Guevara, an Argentine by birth, was a commander of the guerrilla forces during the Cuban Revolution and a leader of Cuba’s new revolutionary government, spearheading the agrarian land reform and literacy campaigns alongside other roles. Inspired by revolutionary possibilities in Africa and Latin America, Guevara left Cuba in 1965 for internationalist missions. He was captured and executed in Bolivia by CIA-assisted forces in 1967.

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