President Díaz-Canel Reports on Cuba’s Plans and Readiness for Confronting US Oil Blockade

The U.S. government’s punitive executive order issued by President Trump on January 29 imposes tariffs on all countries shipping oil to Cuba. Already, little or no oil had been arriving in Cuba for several months, the result of a U.S. fleet patrolling in the Caribbean Sea. U.S. military attack on Venezuela on January 3, and the U.S. control of Venezuela’s oil sales that resulted, closed off that longtime source of oil for the island.

Oil from Mexico, a former supplier, is now highly uncertain. Cuba’s own own heavy crude oil has satisfied only 30% of Cuba’s daily oil needs. Humanitarian catastrophe threatens. Survival of Cuba’s socialist government is in jeopardy. Its collapse would fulfill U.S. strategic objectives in place since 1959, when the revolutionary government took power.

International support is mobilizing and so too are U.S. solidarity activists, motivated variously by considerations of international law, anti-imperialism, and revolutionary leanings. They need information now as the small nation faces unprecedented U.S. assault, information about the government’s planning and Cuba’s readiness in particular.

The report presented here offers Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel’s own words as he outlines his own views and priorities, and those of others, as to what needs to be done. Another report surveying the Cuban government’s early implementation of plans will soon follow.

President Díaz-Canel held a press conference on February 6. He answered questions about his government’s plans for responding to the U.S. oil blockade. Excerpts of his remarks, selected on the basis of perceived importance and relevance, appear below. The transcript in Spanish of what was said at the press conference,16,370 words in all, appears here. Clearly, the quoted remarks in the English translation presented here represent only a fraction of what was actually said.

President Díaz-Canel announced he would be explaining “what the projections are, what are the ways in which we are seeking to get out of this situation in the shortest possible time.” He stated that, “We have had to make … assessments in the Political Bureau [of the Communist Party], in the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers, in the National Defense Council, and now we have just had a meeting in the Council of Ministers to update the overall plan.”

Collapse and solidarity

Oliver Zamora, reporter for Russia Today asked about the “rhetoric of collapse” coming from the U.S. government and about possibilities for solidarity from abroad.

Díaz-Canel stated that, “the theory of collapse … is closely related to the [U.S.] theory of the failed state … and is associated with …the processes through which the U.S. is committed to overthrowing the Cuban Revolution … [specifically] economic asphyxiation …and military aggression … [C]ollapse is part of the imperial philosophy, but not in the minds of Cubans.”

He indicated that formerly the exchange of medical services from Cuba for oil from Venezuela “did cover all the fuel needs of our country … but not after the energy blockade began – the naval blockade of Venezuela which prevented ships or ships from other countries carrying Venezuelan fuel from reaching Cuba. The energy blockade intensified even further with Trump’s executive order, which manipulates countries that supply oil through the threat of tariffs.”

The President itemized manifestations of “immediate support at the international level,” including news that “today there were telephone conversations between Chinese President Party Xi Jinping and President of the Russian Federation Putin” in which “support and commitment” for Cuba and Venezuela was expressed.” “I can assure you with every sense of responsibility that Cuba is not alone,” he added.

Support from the Global South

Claudia Fonseca, representing China’s Xinhua news service asked “what the countries of the Global South could do to support Cuba concretely.”

Díaz-Canel replied: “I believe that the world cannot allow itself to be subjugated, the world cannot allow itself to be humiliated, the world cannot allow force to crush multilateralism … we are all facing in the world, without exception, a war that is political, ideological, and cultural and a war with a media component.

“I think that the first thing that the peoples, the governments, the countries, the nations, and the Global South have to understand is this: they must understand what is in dispute, the scenarios of struggle, what is being offered as a future alternative for this brutal present, and then look at what to do, and seek unity.

“It would be a unity of discourse, of action, of constant denunciation, a unity of seeking integration among the possible blocs and in defending ideas, and a unity in seeking economic and commercial cooperation and in defending multilateralism.”

Talk with the United States?

Reporter Esther González of Canal Caribe (Caribbean TV Channel) asked about Cuba’s “willingness to dialogue with the United States.”

Díaz-Canel maintained that, “[T]here has always existed within the United States and also at the international level a group of people and organizations that have always been favoring routes, bridges, spaces for dialogue or channels of communication. Often it has been achieved when we were allowed to speak as equals …Cuba is willing to engage in dialogue with the United States on any issue.

“But under pressure and with preconditioning, there can be no dialogue. [We demand] a position of equals, a position of respect for our sovereignty, independence, and self-determination – and no centering on issues that are destructive and that we can understand as interference.”

State of war

Raciel Guanche of Juventud Rebelde (Rebel Youth) newspaper sought information about “an official note recently published describing the government’s plans and measures taken for transition to a state of war … “The population wants to know where the country stands today in its preparations for defense.”

President Díaz-Canel stated that, “There is less concern in the population because the population is already participating. The concern is of others, of that annexationist swarm out there, those who are beginning to falter … in the face of the pressures and psychological warfare being inflicted on us …

“Cuba is a country of peace. The defense doctrine or military doctrine of our country is that of war of the all the people. This is a concept of defense of the sovereignty and independence of our country. It does not contemplate … aggression against another country. We are not a threat to the United States. …

“We revolutionaries know what it is worth to defend a revolution, also that a revolution … that does not know how to defend itself and does not strengthen its defense, will hardly survive under certain circumstances. It is our sovereign duty in the face of a danger of aggression to prepare for defense. …

“When we made the analyses of everything that had been happening, including the events of January 3 in Venezuela, … we prioritized a plan for defense for a war of all the people, This calls for preparation of the territorial defense system of our country.

“There have been two measures taken by the National Defense Council. We updated all the plans to face an aggression …and we updated our plan for transition to a state of war, if need be. This was published, because we don’t hide things!

“The note from the Defense Council read exactly as follows: ‘[T]his Saturday the National Defense Council met to analyze and approve the plans and measures for the transition to the State of War, as part of the preparation of the country under the strategic conception of war of the whole people.’ The Council is not saying we are moving toward a state of war; it says that we are preparing in case we have to move to a state of war.’”

Accused of terrorism

Jorge Legañoa of the Latin American News Agency (Prensa Latina) asked, “Are we a country that sponsors international terrorism?” and also, “Are there military or intelligence forces from other nations on Cuban soil? Are there talks with some nations … to install intelligence or military bases in Cuba?”

Díaz-Canel: “When we review the history of the Cuban Revolution, we can see how systematically, intensely, and perversely the United States government has acted to promote terrorist acts against the Revolution …[These] have been organized, financed, and supported by successive U.S. administrations….Today we know of plans for terrorist acts that are being supported, financed, and prepared in the United States to attack Cuba. How can they talk about terrorism in Cuba, a country that has been the victim of terrorism by the very government that is accusing us? …

“A few days before the US presidential handover, the current US president included us on the list of countries that allegedly support terrorism… [T]his is one of the actions that has most contributed to the intensification of the blockade in recent times, because of the damage it causes us from a financial point of view …Cuba is not a terrorist country. … Cuba has never carried out, proposed, or armed any aggressive action that endangers the territorial integrity, security, or stability of the United States government.

“We do not protect terrorists. There are no military forces from other nations or other groups in Cuba.  There are no military bases from other countries in Cuba …In Cuba, as Legañoa said, there is a military base, an illegal military base, and whose is it? It is an illegal US base on the soil of the Cuban province of Guantanamo, against the will of the Cuban people.”

Cuba’s energy needs

Norland Rosendo of the Cuban News Agency noted that, “Cuba has proposed … a long-term strategy to change the country’s energy matrix.” He asked, “Is there any update to that strategy? If so, what are the elements that support it and what will be the priorities?”

Miguel Díaz-Canel: “The month of January has been dedicated to plenary sessions at which national and territorial strategies were discussed, with one of the priorities being the country’s energy program, which includes electricity issues and issues that are associated with fuel, the use of fuels, and we have updated that strategy. … A strategy was already on the way for about two years, … [and we were] moving towards renewable sources of energy and more independence in fossil fuel use …

“Last year we recovered more than 900 megawatts in the country’s distributed generation source. We also recovered thermal generation capacities, which has to do with the entire process of repair and maintenance of the country’s main thermoelectric plants. The impact has nil because of fuel deficits, very large deficits …

“We are investing in … renewable energy sources. Last year we installed more than 1,000 megawatts of electricity generation with photovoltaic parks: we installed around 49 photovoltaic parks in the country. Before 2025, the percentage that renewable energy sources contributed to the country’s electricity generation was only 3%, and with the investment of last year, we jumped from 3% to 10% …

“We had 1,000 megawatts last year and we aspire to have a figure close to that this year. With that, we would be reaching levels above 15% or close to 20% of electricity generation with renewable sources. … We will continue to increase renewable energy sources. At the end of February, we will have installed 98 more megawatts in photovoltaic parks. By the end of March, we will have added 58 megawatts more, and this progress will continue every month of this year.

“You will ask me, or the population will ask, where is that energy? …[T]hose 1,000 megawatts of photovoltaic parks are generating on average, daily, at the hours of the day in which they operate, 38% of the energy that the country consumes at that time. This year, we have to put a little energy into in the daytime economy, this at the cost of impacting the people, but the people receive what we produce in the economy; if the economy does not produce, things become more complicated …

“The country has to be able to sustain itself with energy sources that we possess: our heavy national crude and our renewable sources of energy. We have biomass, we can generate biogas with which we generate electricity … Continuation of the program depends on maintaining the thermoelectric plants. We cannot immediately do without that base. And also, with that thermo-energy base, we can use national crude oil, without dependence on fuel imports.”

Oil Production in Cuba

Oscar Figueredo of cubadebate.cu asked about “the need to continue exploiting the internal sources that we have, namely oil … [D]o you think that under these conditions exploitation of this natural resource and also of the accompanying gas will be increasing?”

President Díaz-Canel pointed out that, “the naval blockade of Venezuela began in December; since that date no fuel has been received in this country …Today we have problems with the unavailability of fuel that would have guaranteed not only electricity generation, but also basic activities, above all those having directly to do with the population. That is why the Council of Ministers met today to supplement government directives so as to deal with the acute fuel shortage.

“A group of deputy prime ministers and ministers will inform the population in more detail about all these measures. …I want to clarify that, even with an energy blockade, we do not give up on importing fuel. That is a right we have, and we will and are making all necessary arrangements so that the country can once again have fuel … I want to explain that [the people] are guaranteed that the Party, the government, the institutions … are working so that our population, our country, our economy, our economic and social development will be less affected in these difficult conditions of energy blockade by the United States …

“What does it mean that not a drop of fuel arrives in the country? Effects fall on food transportation, food production, public transportation, the operation of hospitals, institutions of all kinds, schools, production and manufacturing, and tourism. The new measures will require effort. I know that people are going to say, ‘Sacrifice again?’ Well, if we don’t sacrifice and if we don’t resist, what are we going to do, are we going to surrender?

“The option of surrender is not Cuba’s option. There is much to defend. There are worthy Cubans who, over time, gave their lives for this country, for the independence of this country. And the most recent are the 32 comrades who fell in Venezuela, whose fall outraged our people, and that wound … does not heal. …

“There is an increase, as you correctly point out, in the production of national crude oil, which I prefer to call “oil equivalent”. As you mentioned, we have increased the extraction of crude oil and accompanying gas. And because we have more gas, we have increased electricity generation with Energas …

“Increasing the production of ‘oil equivalent’ allows us to have more crude oil coverage for electricity generation in our thermoelectric plants that make use of that crude … We have also proposed going beyond oil-based generation of electricity and utilizing renewable energy sources … We see an opportunity to develop, to have sustainable development, to be more energy sovereign and to be less dependent.”

“Out in the world, there are many people and entities that reject pressure, reject blackmail, reject and oppose the economic siege against Cuba. They are willing to take risks to work with Cuba. I believe that the international community has to decide whether it’s going allow a crime like the one being carried out against Cuba today. Any other nation in the world is vulnerable to such a crime.

Modes of survival

Dilbert Reyes, reporter for Granma, asked, “How do you think the life of the country should move to meet priorities necessary for survival?” And, “How do you think the Party’s leadership should change so that all this, which is urgent, has results and is done quickly?

Miguel Díaz-Canel: “To answer the two questions, I rely on the plenary sessions that we have just held at the provincial level and that will continue at the municipal level – and not because these are just another meeting. They have been spaces for discussion and spaces for building consensus.

“It’s in the building of consensus where the potential lies to get results from meetings. There is now a new variable in the equation that is the lives of the Cuban people, or one with more weight. It’s the urgency of the moment. We cannot waste time. There are things that we do now. This urgency encourages thinking, new ideas, and new understanding. The provincial plenary sessions gave us a first confirmation of that. We have been discussing very complex things under very adverse conditions. …

“We start from the contribution made by the XI Plenum of the Central Committee of the Party. This was a heart-felt plenary session in which veins were opened in discussion of fundamental issues and expression of dissatisfaction. The vision prevailed as to the need for an urgent response in the shortest possible time. Light was shed on ideological work, priorities, ways to face the economic battle, and how to accomplish all that we are proposing in this Government Program.

“This Government Program—which I always carry with me, discussing and checking, and which we took to a referendum (between November 15 and December 30, 2025) – will now be strengthened and expanded, based on input from that referendum …

“In circumstances like these, where on the one hand they want to impose economic suffocation and on the other hand there is the possibility of military aggression, we must define priorities. We must, first, improve the functioning of the Party, the Government, the state and military institutions, the mass organizations, the social organizations, and more. …

“To defend ourselves from aggression … the plan is to be ready for defense and for war of all the people. We are planning for political mobilization, for constantly demonstrating and constantly discussing, debating, sharing, and proposing. …. There is also the economic response, with the fundamentals being implemented in the shortest possible time. There are the fundamental transformations proposed in the Government Program aimed at solving the structural problems of the economy and strengthening it.

“We must also develop modes of political, social, and institutional communication that respond to the communication needs of wartime, of crisis, and of dealing with the imperial media offensive …

“There is the matter of how to perfect the work of the Party. The first and basic concept is unity … Unity gives us strength. At the plenum, I proposed two essential components of unity: we argue strongly and we march together. This does not divide, it unites, especially if later, based on those reflections and contributions, we march together and we defend everything together. When there is laziness, or when someone keeps quiet about what they think, or someone is not honest or is not sincere, the result is fragmentation and disunity …

“Another element of unity is participation. When we all participate, when we all share, when we all fight, when we all achieve results and victories, we commit ourselves. We have more self-esteem and are stronger.

“Linkage with the people is necessary. You have to be working, I tell my colleagues. The best time to do this is time you spend with the people, with the collectives where important ideological, economic or social events are taking place. … If for historical reasons, we are the only constitutionally recognized Party, we are the Party not only of communist militants, but the Party of the Cuban nation too. The most natural moment of the Party’s work, which is time spent meeting with grassroots organizations, must be more than a meeting of militants. We must call upon young people, call upon non-militant workers, to contribute and for them to discuss problems together with us, and support us …

“The problems are so complex that they cannot be solved in one way only. Fidel always taught us that we had to work with many alternatives. Science provides us with solutions and when we apply them and are successful, the result is something new. We need to promote innovation – and confront corruption.

“Now, as to the second question: what do we need to work on faster in order to achieve the urgency we need now in making necessary transformations?

“First, we must improve and update our system of managing the economy. We must achieve an adequate relationship between centralization and decentralization, and between what is susceptible to planning and what must be addressed through certain market signals. Another necessary transformation is that of restructuring the entire state apparatus of the government, Party, and institutions.

“The planning for priorities has to be decentralized. We must move toward definitive autonomy of the state enterprise. Also, this autonomous company has to be export-minded. It must seek income in foreign currency. and itself buy fuel, supplies, and raw materials it needs.

“That autonomy of the state company goes along with resizing and restructuring and, above all, takes place at the level of the municipality. Autonomy of the municipalities is one more important transformation that we have to promote … Municipalities must, above all, have robust local production systems. That requires producing for themselves, taking advantage of endogenous capacities and developing their own territorial and local development strategies.

“We are going to change the concept of the basic food basket, which until now has depended on imports and centralized decision-making. The emphasis will more on equity than on egalitarianism. Equity is when we give more to those who have less. We redistribute so they have more and gaps are narrowed. Municipalities will export goods to generate income … and have a plan for investing in enterprises within the municipality …

“There are other projects being worked on, such as renegotiating our foreign debt and determining the appropriate relationship between the state and the non-state sector. We would take advantage of what we have recently approved, which is that economic partnership will exist between the state sector and non-state sector and that each one adheres to local and territorial development strategies. Similarly, we must take advantage of the flexibility we have set up for foreign direct investment …

“We have to be able to produce everything we can produce in the country. Things we import will be supplies for enhancing national production; products we make in the country will not be imported. We will not forget that we work on caring for the vulnerable and that, in every decision we make, in everything we implement, we must identify who is disadvantaged and know how we help them.”

Cuba’s young people

Raciel Guanche of the Juventud Rebelde (Rebel Youth) newspaper inquired of the President his “assessment of the attitude of our people and especially of Cuban young people, now facing the complexities we are all experiencing.”

President Díaz-Canel: “I think that every time we talk about the people and every time we talk about young people, ‘we have to take our hats off,’ as goes the popular saying.

“The heroism of this people is astonishing, even though we live with daily adversity and difficulties. I insist that the Cuban people’s resistance is not a resistance of endurance, but is a resistance of creation, one in which I overcome; I resist, I move forward; I resist, I grow. …

“I have said it before: for me, young people must be treated as the important people they are in our society. When we talk about unity, there is no unity if young people are not part of that unity. When we talk about continuity, there is no continuity without young people.

“Some people talk about Cubans who have left, those who try their luck in other countries. Most of them, however, have not broken with the Revolution; on the contrary, many are committed. In these times of threats, how many have returned? How many are demonstrating against aggression?

“There are everyday examples of the recent responses of young people: the outrage over Venezuela; the participation of young people in the tribute to our fallen, in the March of the Fighting People, and later in the Torch March. These young people are living through the complex situations of these times, the shortages of these times, and sometimes their life plans are not yet what they wanted. But they remain confident because they know that those life plans are more possible here than elsewhere. So, we trust those young people.”

The version of the Cuban president’s remarks appearing here represents an edited and abbreviated rendition of the English translation of his words presented in Granma, itself an abbreviated version of the original in Spanish.

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