Cuba's president says no current talks with the US following Trump's
threats
[January 13, 2026]
By ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ, DÁNICA COTO and MILEXSY DURÁN
HAVANA (AP) — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Monday that his
administration is not in talks with the U.S. government, a day after
President Donald Trump threatened the Caribbean island in the wake of
the U.S. attack on Venezuela.
Díaz-Canel posted a flurry of brief statements on X after Trump
suggested that Cuba “make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not say
what kind of deal.
Díaz-Canel wrote that for “relations between the U.S. and Cuba to
progress, they must be based on international law rather than hostility,
threats, and economic coercion.”
He added: “We have always been willing to hold a serious and responsible
dialogue with the various US governments, including the current one, on
the basis of sovereign equality, mutual respect, principles of
International Law, and mutual benefit without interference in internal
affairs and with full respect for our independence.”
His statements were reposted by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez
on X.
A key lifeline severed
On Sunday, Trump wrote that Cuba would no longer live off oil and money
from Venezuela, which the U.S. attacked on Jan. 3 in a stunning
operation that killed 32 Cuban officers and led to the arrest of
President Nicolás Maduro.
Cuba was receiving an estimated 35,000 barrels a day from Venezuela
before the U.S. attacked, along with some 5,500 barrels daily from
Mexico and roughly 7,500 from Russia, according to Jorge Piñón of the
Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, who tracks the
shipments.
On Monday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum once again declined to
provide data on current oil shipments or say whether such shipments
would increase when Venezuelan supplies end. She insisted that the aid
“has been ongoing for a long time; it’s not new.”
Sheinbaum said Mexico’s fuel supply to Cuba is not a concern for her
country because “there is enough oil” — even though production of
state-owned oil company Petróleos Mexicanos is steadily declining. She
reiterated that her government is willing to facilitate dialogue between
the U.S. and Cuba if both agree.
Even with oil shipments from Venezuela, widespread blackouts have
persisted across Cuba given fuel shortages and a crumbling electric
grid. Experts worry a lack of petroleum would only deepen the island's
multiple crises that stem from an economic paralysis during the COVID-19
pandemic and a radical increase in U.S. sanctions following the first
Trump administration, which aim to force a change in Cuba's political
model.
The communist government has said U.S. sanctions cost the country more
than $7.5 billion between March 2024 and February 2025, a staggering sum
for an island whose tourism revenue reached some $3 billion annually at
its peak in the previous decade.
The crisis also has triggered a large wave of migration primarily to the
United States, where Cubans enjoyed immigration privileges as exiles.
Those privileges were curtailed before Trump closed U.S. borders.
[to top of second column]
|
The Cuban flag flies at half-mast at the Anti-Imperialist Tribune
near the U.S. embassy in Havana, Cuba, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in
memory of Cubans who died two days before in Caracas, Venezuela
during the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by U.S.
forces. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
‘They didn’t even bring Cuban coffee'
The situation between the U.S. and Cuba is “very sad and
concerning,” said Andy S. Gómez, retired dean of the School of
International Studies and senior fellow in Cuban Studies at the
University of Miami.
He said he sees Díaz-Canel’s latest comments “as a way to try and
buy a little bit of time for the inner circle to decide what steps
it’s going to take.”
Gómez said he doesn’t visualize Cuba reaching out to U.S. officials
right now.
“They had every opportunity when President (Barack) Obama opened up
U.S. diplomatic relations, and yet they didn’t even bring Cuban
coffee to the table,” Gómez said. “Of course, these are desperate
times for Cuba.”
Michael Galant, senior research and outreach associate at the Center
for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C., said he
believes Cuba might be willing to negotiate.
“Cuba has been interested in finding ways to ease sanctions,” he
said. “It's not that Cuba is uncooperative.”
Galant said topics for discussion could include migration and
security, adding that he believes Trump is not in a hurry.
“Trump is hoping to deepen the economic crisis on the island, and
there are few costs to Trump to try and wait that out,” he said. “I
don’t think it’s likely that there will be any dramatic action in
the coming days because there is no rush to come to the table.”
Cuba's president stressed on X that “there are no talks with the
U.S. government, except for technical contacts in the area of
migration.”
As tensions remained heightened, life went on as usual for many
Cubans, although some were more concerned than others.
Oreidy Guzmán, a 32- year-old food delivery person, said he doesn't
want anything bad to happen to Cubans, “but if something has to
happen, the people deserve change.”
Meanwhile, 37-year-old homemaker Meilyn Gómez said that while she
doesn't believe the U.S. would invade Cuba, she was preparing for
any possible outcome under Trump: “He'll find entertainment
anywhere.”
The current situation is dominating chatter among Cubans on the
island and beyond.
“Cuban people talk and talk,” said 57-year-old bartender Rubén
Benítez, “but to be honest, eleven, eight or nine million will take
to the streets to defend what little we have left.”
___
Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Associated Press reporter
María Verza in Mexico City contributed to this report.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
