by Charles McKelvey, published on Workers World, February 16, 2026
Cuba News published an article by reporter Charles McKelvey, from which Workers World links to this report on a two-hour interview with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who spoke at a special press conference on Feb. 5, 2026. The Cuban president addressed the current crisis in the Caribbean..
In a special two-hour televised press conference with the Cuban press and Cuban representatives of international news organizations, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who also is First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, explained the projections of the Cuban government in response to the maximum pressure being applied by the world’s principal power.
In initiating the press conference, the Cuban President asserted that the leadership of the country is well aware of the concerns of the people as well as the intense media campaigns of slander, hatred, and psychological warfare that are being carried out. He noted that the press conference has been called to explain the ways that the government is working to emerge from the situation in the least possible time, based on evaluations of the Politburo of the Party, the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers of the government, and the National Defense Council.
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The rhetoric of collapse
Oliver Zamora, a correspondent of RT in Cuba, asked about the increased rhetoric of collapse that is being expressed within the US government. Díaz-Canel responded that the rhetoric is tied to the “failed state” theory and a series of ideological constructions that Washington employs to characterize the situation in Cuba. The theory of collapse is associated with the intention of the US government to overthrow the Cuban Revolution. The US policy has two fundamental components, namely, economic asphyxiation and military aggression.
Díaz-Canel added that when the President of the United States declared that the USA had applied against Cuba all possible pressure, he implicitly recognized that there is not a failed state in Cuba. Cuba has lived with the US strategy of economic asphyxiation for sixty-seven years, and therefore Cuba since the triumph of the Revolution has always had shortages and difficult situations. Cuba has responded with creative resistance, involving the defense of Cuba’s ideas and convictions. Díaz-Canel declared, “I know that we are going to live through difficult times, we have done it before, but we are going to overcome them together, with creative resistance, with the effort and the talent of the majority of Cubans.”
The Cuban President asserted that Cuba has not had a relation of dependency with Venezuela. Seeing the relation in this way diminishes its value. Rather, Cuba and Venezuela have during the past twenty-five years developed a relation of cooperation, complementarity, and collaboration based in the principle of solidarity. Both have benefited from the relation in such areas as energy, food sovereignty, education, literacy, industry, mining, telecommunications, and cultural interchange.
With the formation of ALBA-TCP, the benefits of the Cuba-Venezuela relation were expanded to include other countries of the region, with a focus on social justice and projects of mutual benefit. Both Cuba and Venezuela have been committed to a form of Latin American and Caribbean integration of which Martí and Bolivar dreamed and Fidel and Chávez defended. No bloc of regional integration has attained as much in such a short period of time as ALBA-TCP. More than 3.5 million Latin Americans have had their sight restored; and four countries had been declared free of illiteracy. These gains occurred because of a concept of integration based in humanism and not egoism.
To be sure, Cuba and Venezuela have had important economic and commercial relations. Above all, Cuba in the past provided medical services to Venezuela, which were compensated in part with fuel. But the covering of Cuban needs for fuel via medical services in Venezuela occurred in the past; in present times, sanctions, coercive measures, and pressure against Venezuela have affected that interchange. And the recent naval blockade of Cuba has prevented Venezuelan ships as well as ships from other nations carrying Venezuelan fuel from arriving to Cuba. The situation is now made worse by the Executive Order of the US government in recent days.
The Cuban President did not presume to speak with respect to what will happen in Venezuela. He observed that the future relation between Cuba and Venezuela will have to be built from the present situation, in which Venezuela has been attacked, and its president has been illegally kidnapped and is imprisoned in the United States. Cuba, he noted, never imposed collaboration on Venezuela. “As long as the Venezuelan government promotes and defends collaboration, Cuba will be willing to collaborate.” Díaz-Canel, therefore, is suggesting that, inasmuch as Cuba has not had a dependent relation with Venezuela, the future of Cuba does not depend on what happens in Venezuela and on whether or not Venezuela is able to maintain collaboration with Cuba.
Cuba is not alone, the Cuban president asserted. He observed that he cannot openly explain, because of US persecution of all roads to Cuba. But he assured the people that, behind the numerous diplomatic expressions of support for Cuba, “there are persons, governments, countries, institutions, and companies that are disposed to work with Cuba.”
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The Global South cannot allow force to crush multilateralism
Xinhua News Agency (China) asked what the countries of the Global South could do to support Cuba in the complex energy situation resulting from the US Executive Order reinforcing the petroleum blockade. The First Secretary of the Party responded that “the world cannot allow itself to be subjugated and humiliated; it cannot allow force to crush multilateralism.” Observing the US military intervention in Venezuela and the subsequent threats to countries like Cuba, Mexico, Colombia, and Greenland, we must learn the appropriate lessons. The countries and the peoples must understand that all nations and peoples of the Global South, without exception, are confronting an ideological, cultural, mediatic, and psychological war.
Against this multidimensional unconventional war, Díaz-Canel maintained, the peoples, governments, and nations of the Global South must unify in constant denunciation and in developing regional integration in defense of multilateralism, deepening economic and commercial integration. BRICS, the Eurasian Economic Union, the Non-Aligned Movement, and G-77 are playing important roles in defense of multilateralism, Díaz-Canel noted. In addition, China and Russia are showing the necessary road in their relations with the countries of the South. The Global South must unite in an anti-hegemonic and anti-fascist mobilization.
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Cuba is disposed to dialogue with the United States
The Cuban President observed that as neighboring countries, Cuba and the United States have common concerns with respect to migration, security, drug trafficking, terrorism, and the environment. Cuba is disposed to dialogue with the United States on these issues, without pressure or preconditions, with respect for Cuban sovereignty, independence, and self-determination.
Díaz-Canel stressed that the Cuban people do not hate the people of the United States. Cubans recognize the values of the North American people, their history, and their culture. When Cubans have had the opportunity to meet with North Americans in different sectors, such as science, sport, religious affairs, culture, and health, they find that there are many ways in which the two peoples can work together. The decadent policy of the blockade deprives not only the people of Cuba, but also the people of the United States.
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The Cuban military doctrine is the concept of the war of all the people
Juventud Rebelde asked about the military preparation that is presently seen in the country. Díaz-Canel confirmed that Saturdays have been declared as national days of defense. He noted that the military doctrine of Cuba is the concept of the war of all the people. It is a concept of the defense of the sovereignty and independence of the country. It does not contemplate at any moment aggression against another country. Inasmuch as the United States is using the rhetoric of a possible aggression against Cuba, “it is our sovereign duty, before a danger of aggression, to prepare ourselves for defense.”
The war of all the people involves preparation of the entire system of territorial defense, from the municipality and the province to the National Council of Defense. It consists of regular units of the Army, production brigades, defense militias of territorial troops, and structures in zones of defense by special groups. The President confirmed that all the components of the system of national defense and the people are participating in the current preparation.
The President clarified: “We are not saying that we are going to a state of war, but that we are preparing for going to a state of war at some moment.”
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Cuba is not a terrorist country or a threat to the national security of the United States
Jorge Legañoa, president of Prensa Latina, asked about the North American narrative that Cuba protects terrorists, which was one of Washington’s pretexts for considering Cuba a threat to the national security of the United States. Díaz-Canel responded that the United States placed Cuba on a spurious list of countries that supposedly support terrorism, without ever offering any evidence. In fact, Cuba is not a terrorist country or a threat to the national security of the United States. The spurious list is not based on a just evaluation of evidence relevant to the issue; it is a political manipulation that serves the interests of the administrations of the United States. He further declared:
Cuba never has carried out, or has proposed, or has armed an aggressive action that places in danger the territorial integrity, the security, or the stability of the government of the United States. We do not protect terrorists. There are no military forces in Cuba of other nations or organizations of nations. There are no military bases of other countries in Cuba. We have military cooperation and agreements of military cooperation with friendly countries, with allies, but this does not at all mean that there are military bases in Cuba.
The Cuban President considers the US accusation hypocritical, because it is the United States that has sponsored terrorist acts against the Cuban Revolution. It is the United States that has supported terrorism in the world and has military bases throughout the world. He declared that the United States is the principal state in the world that is a danger for the peace and security of the world.
The generation of energy to sustain strategic economic activities in Cuba
Norland Rosendo, director of Cuban News Agency, asked about the difficult situation in Cuba with respect to the generation of energy and the blocking of international access to fuel. Díaz-Canel responded that Cuba has a long-term strategy for changing the energy matrix of the country, such that by 2050, the country will arrive to 100% renewable energy. This long-term strategy has been explained to the people on various occasions, he noted. At the same time, the strategy has been updated during the last two years, such that in addition to transitioning toward renewable sources of energy, the objective is to be more independent in the use of combustible fuels. This updating has been developed in response to a series of coercive measures by the United States.
The President noted that in 2025, Cuba installed 49 photovoltaic parks, with the result that the percentage of electric generation in the country via renewable sources of energy increased from 3% to 10%. In addition, there has been a recuperation of the thermoelectric system through a program of maintenance and repair. The increase was not seen by the people, because 2025 was a year of increased persecution and therefore less financial resources and less fuel, and because part of the energy is destined toward sustaining strategic economic activities, such as agricultural irrigation. The government has prioritized energy for the economy over energy for the population, because without agricultural production, the energy problems would have an even greater impact on daily life.
Cuba has arrived to the conclusion that it is capable of sustainable energy production with its own sources of energy, including heavy national crude, wind, water, sun, and biomass. Díaz-Canel noted that Cuba plans the continuation of the maintenance of thermoelectric plants that produce national crude, thereby reducing dependency on the importation of fuel; and increasing the generation of renewable energy, especially through the continued installation of photovoltaic parks. As the nation advances in the plan, dependency on the importation of fossil fuels will be reduced.
In addition, Cuba is installing 5,000 photovoltaic systems in centers that provide vital services to the population, such as maternity homes, centers for the elderly, policlinics, and bank branches. Moreover, photovoltaic systems are being installed in houses, with priority to doctors, teachers, professors, and workers in health and education. And financial incentives have been created for the purchase of domestic photovoltaic systems.
Moreover, the Institute of Petroleum Research in Cuba has arrived, following years of research, to improvement in the refining of Cuban crude and to increasing its quality. There are definite positive prospects with respect to the refining of gasoline, fuel oil, and diesel fuel.
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New temporary measures
Díaz-Canel announced that in the next days temporary measures will be put in place by the relevant ministries to address the limited availability of petroleum. They are designed to ensure the generation of electricity as well as basic economic activities. Within the next week, the people will have all the information concerning the situation and how the nation is going to confront it. The new measures, although temporary, will require sacrifice. There is no option possible other than sacrifice and resistance, Díaz-Canel declared, because “we are not going to surrender. We have no option but to defend the country, because many dignified Cuban men and women have given their lives for this country. We know that we are defending not only Cuba, but also dignity, sovereignty, the Revolution, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Global South. We will do the only thing that we can do in a moment like this.”
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Cuba does not renounce its right to petroleum
The Cuban President stressed that Cuba has a right to receive petroleum. The government is taking all necessary steps in order to ensure that new supplies of petroleum will be delivered. The Party, the government, and all the relevant institutions are working to reduce the effect on the people.
With respect to the United States, Díaz-Canel declared:
I think it is most reprehensible that a world power, with the dimensions of the United States, assumes such an aggressive and criminal policy toward a small nation. What does it mean to block and not allow a drop of fuel to reach a country? It affects food transportation, food production, public transportation, the operation of hospitals, institutions of all kinds, schools, the production of the economy, tourism. How do we maintain classes for children without fuel? How do our vital systems work without fuel? How do we distribute food? How do we prepare the land for planting?
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What right does a nation have to prevent fuel from reaching a country? With this they are not only acting against Cuba and against the people. How many countries are they preventing from having a normal trade relationship with our country? How many companies and entities are they harming? Is this not in violation of all international law and the Charter of the United Nations? Isn’t this against the free trade that capitalism and imperialism defend?
Who do they think they are to impose their will on us? Can anyone in the world celebrate having that done to a country? Is there any hint of humanism, decency, sensitivity, decorum in someone who acts like this? It must grieve us for this to happen. But we have a strategy and an updated program in response.
The President of Cuba further declared that the international community has to define if it is going to permit a crime like this, which is committed today against Cuba, but could be committed against any other nation in the world. The international community must struggle for solidarity, cooperation, respect for the sovereignty of nations, and multilateralism.
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Cuban youth
Racial Guanche of Juventud Rebelde asked the President for his evaluation of the attitude of the people, especially youth, in the current difficult situation. Díaz-Canal responded, “The heroism of this people is astonishing. And even though we have a daily life of adversity, of facing difficult things, when one sees the answers, the creativity, the resistance…. I insist: the resistance of the Cuban people is not a resistance of endurance; it is of creation.”
Díaz-Canel further observed that the unity of the people cannot exist if the youth are not present. The Cuban concept of people’s participation has to include youth. He further said, “Every time I have met young people and participated in discussions with them, I have always learned, and I have been nourished by their experiences and approaches. By listening to them, one can see things differently: more up to date, more contemporary, bolder. And that audacity, that restlessness with commitment, does a lot of good for the nation and for everything we want to do.”
This is no surprise, Díaz-Canel asserted, because throughout Cuban history, youth have always played a fundamental role.
*Featured Image: Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel speaks at a special press conference on February 5, 2026. Photo: Cubavision
I send my love & support to the Cuban people- Marlena Santoyo, U.S. citizen