US President Donald Trump said Sunday that Cuba will no longer receive oil or financial support from Venezuela and claimed the US now protects Venezuela, following a US military operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said that for years the island nation had relied on large amounts of oil and money from Venezuela in return for providing security services to Venezuelan leaders, but said now arrangement has ended.
"There will be no more oil or money going to Cuba — zero!" he wrote.
Trump claimed that many Cubans involved in security operations in Venezuela were killed during the recent US military operation, adding that Venezuela no longer needs protection from what he described as criminal groups that had "held them hostage for many years."
He also said Venezuela is now under the protection of the United States, saying it boasts "the most powerful military in the world," and that Washington would ensure the country's security going forward.
Trump urged Cuba to seek a new deal, warning that it should act "before it is too late."
On Jan. 7, days after the Venezuela operation, Trump named Cuba among possible future targets of his administration, saying the Caribbean nation "is ready to fall."
Cuba's president blamed the US for the country's deep economic hardships, rejecting criticism of Havana and insisting Cuba remains fully sovereign in the face of decades of pressure.
"Those who turn everything into a business, even human lives, have no moral authority to point the finger at Cuba," Miguel Diaz-Canel said on US social media company X, arguing that the island's economic suffering stems from US' "extreme strangulation" policies imposed for more than six decades.
"Cuba is a free, independent, and sovereign nation. No one dictates what we do," he added.
Diaz-Canel said Havana does not threaten others but remains prepared to defend itself "to the last drop of blood" after "it has been attacked by the US for 66 years."
Bruno Rodriguez, Cuba's foreign minister, rejected Trump's claims, stating that Havana has never received "monetary or material compensation for security services provided to any country."
Rodriguez also stressed his country's sovereignty over oil imports, asserting that Cuba is free to trade with any country that wishes to do so.
