Cuban president denounces US sanctions as ‘genocidal siege’

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Monday denounced US sanctions against Cuba as a “genocidal siege,” accusing Washington of imposing “collective punishment” on the Cuban people.

“The collective punishment being imposed on the Cuban people is an act of genocide that should be condemned by international organizations and should lead to criminal prosecution of those promoting it,” Diaz-Canel wrote on US social media company X.

His remarks came after the US announced new sanctions Monday against several senior Cuban officials and government organizations, including ministers responsible for justice, energy and communications, as well as Cuba’s primary intelligence agency.

Diaz-Canel responded by saying neither Cuba’s political leadership nor its military institutions held assets under US jurisdiction.

“The US government knows it has no evidence to present,” Diaz-Canel said, arguing that “anti-Cuban rhetoric of hatred” was being used to justify an escalation of Washington’s “economic war” against the island.

“That is why we will continue denouncing, in the strongest and most forceful way, the genocidal siege aimed at strangling our people,” he said.

Diaz-Canel also condemned US measures targeting third parties seeking to supply fuel or invest in Cuba.

“It is immoral, illegal and criminal,” he said, referring to sanctions that penalize firms providing Cuba with fuel, food, medicine, hygiene products and other basic goods.

Cuba has faced severe fuel shortages and widespread power outages in recent months after the US imposed an oil embargo on Jan. 30.

“We have absolutely no fuel and absolutely no diesel,” Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy said last week in Cuban state media, adding that the national grid was in a “critical state.”

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said Cuba is “next” following the military operation against Iran and claimed the communist-run island would fall “soon.”