In a tense interview on Tuesday, Cuba's top diplomat in the United States, Ambassador Lianys Torres Rivera, accused the Trump administration of using sanctions against Cuban leaders as a pretext for potential military intervention. Torres Rivera, who serves as chargé d'affaires, reiterated accusations made by other Cuban officials, including the foreign minister and the president, and bitterly complained that the U.S.
is targeting Cuban civilians with its decades-old embargo and a new blockade on energy shipments to the island.
"We are not a threat to the U.S., and we don't want confrontation," Torres Rivera said, describing the situation as "a war without bombs." She warned that any efforts to change Cuba's government by coercion or force would be met with fierce resistance. Her comments came amid heightened tensions following a federal grand jury indictment last month of former Cuban President Raúl Castro on conspiracy and murder charges related to the 1996 shootdown of two unarmed civilian planes operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue.
Castro, now 95, was serving as Cuba's defense minister at the time.
"Raúl is a sacred symbol of the revolution, and we will defend Raúl — as we will the country — until the end," Torres Rivera said. "If we are attacked, we are going to respond, and we are prepared for that.
But we don't want it."
The ambassador's remarks reflect a belief among many Cubans and analysts that the charges against Castro and the sanctions on other socialist government leaders mirror those the Trump administration used to justify the military intervention in Venezuela in January, which deposed then-President Nicolás Maduro. On Thursday, the same day the U.S.
Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, Castro's son and grandson, and others, President Donald Trump said of Cuba: "We're going to handle that as soon as we've finished" military operations in Iran. Trump has been threatening military action in Cuba since ousting Maduro and ordering an energy blockade that choked off fuel shipments, leading to severe blackouts, food shortages, and economic collapse across the island.
Torres Rivera said the Trump administration's moves to tighten the screws on Cuba's already faltering economy have caused untold misery for ordinary Cubans, who struggle with power cuts of up to 20 hours a day and exorbitant costs for gasoline, kerosene, and everyday goods, including food and medicine. "What is happening now is tough," she said.
Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and other administration officials have repeatedly denied that Cuba's economic strife is America's fault, instead blaming the Cuban government's socialist policies. They have not ruled out military action but have said they are willing to give Cuban authorities time to make reforms.
Torres Rivera noted that recent discussions between senior U.S. and Cuban officials in Havana and elsewhere have been "professional and respectful," but she insisted that Cuba is not willing to change unless reforms are made from within and not under duress.
Drawing a parallel with Vietnam, a socialist country with which Cuba has long-standing ties, Torres Rivera pointed out that Washington and Hanoi forged a positive relationship over four decades only after the Vietnamese enacted reforms at their own pace. "We want to make sure that the only changes to the system are done by us," she said.
Rubio, however, has argued that Cuba poses a serious national security threat to America due to its security and intelligence ties with China and Russia and its friendly relations with U.S. foes in Latin America.
"I really don't believe this system is capable of reform unless new people take over or a new mindset takes hold," he told lawmakers at a congressional hearing last week. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ambassador's remarks.