Cuba's top envoy to US calls Trump's sanctions on Cuban leaders a
'pretext' for military action
[June 10, 2026]
By MATTHEW LEE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Recent U.S. sanctions targeting Cuba's leadership and
the indictment of former President Raúl Castro are a “pretext” for the
Trump administration to persuade the American people to support a
military intervention, Cuba’s top diplomat to the United States told The
Associated Press.
In an interview on Tuesday, Ambassador Lianys Torres Rivera repeated
accusations against the Trump administration made by other Cuban
officials, including the foreign minister and the president, and
complained bitterly that the U.S. is targeting Cuban civilians with its
decades-old embargo and new blockade of energy shipments to the island.
“The sanctions against our leaders, we see as a pretext to make the
American people think we are a threat,” she said at Cuba's embassy in
Washington. “We are not a threat to the U.S., and we don’t want
confrontation.”
Torres Rivera, who holds the formal title of chargé d’affaires,
described the situation as “a war without bombs.” She said efforts to
change Cuba’s government by coercion or force would be met by fierce
resistance.
“Raúl is sacred,” she said of the indictment by a federal grand jury
last month of Castro. The 95-year-old former president faces 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
while he was serving as Cuba’s defense minister.
“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.”
Her comments reflect a belief among many Cubans and Cuba analysts that
the charges against Castro and the sanctions imposed on others in the
socialist government's leadership are similar to those the Trump
administration touted as a reason for the military intervention in
Venezuela in January that deposed then-President Nicolás Maduro.
On Thursday, the same day the U.S. Treasury Department leveled sanctions
on Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, Castro’s son and grandson, along
with others, U.S. 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 ever since ousting
Maduro and then ordering an energy blockade that choked off fuel
shipments to Cuba. That has led to severe blackouts, food shortages and
an economic collapse across the island.
Torres Rivera said the moves by the Trump administration to tighten the
screws on Cuba’s already faltering economy have resulted in untold
misery for ordinary Cubans who are struggling to survive with power cuts
of up to 20 hours a day and exorbitant costs for gasoline, kerosene and
everyday goods, including food and medicine.
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Chargé d'Affaires of the Embassy of Cuba Lianys Torres Rivera,
speaks with The Associated Press at the mission in Washington,
Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
“What is happening now is tough,” she said. “It is heartbreaking.”
Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other administration
officials have repeatedly denied that Cuba’s economic strife is
America’s fault and repeatedly cast the blame on the Cuban
government’s socialist policies. They have not ruled out military
action against the island but have said they are willing to give
Cuban authorities time to make reforms.
Torres Rivera said that recent discussions between senior U.S. and
Cuban officials in Havana and elsewhere have been “professional and
respectful.” But she said that Cuba is not willing to change unless
reforms are made from within and not under duress.
A former Cuban ambassador to Vietnam, another socialist country with
which Cuba has long-standing ties, she noted that Washington and
Hanoi have forged a positive relationship over the past four
decades, but only because the Vietnamese enacted reforms at their
own pace. The same should be permitted for Cuba, she said.
“We want to make sure that the only changes to the system are done
by us,” she said.
Rubio, however, has said Cuba poses a serious national security
threat to America because of its security and intelligence ties with
China and Russia and 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 didn't immediately respond to a request for
comment on the Cuban ambassador's comments.
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