Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has accused the United States of seeking to overthrow his government, as tensions escalate amid a severe energy crisis and ongoing U.S. Economic pressure. The escalating rhetoric comes as Washington reportedly demands Díaz-Canel’s resignation as a condition for further negotiations, raising concerns about the future of U.S.-Cuba relations.
“The United States publicly threatens Cuba, almost daily, with forcibly overthrowing the constitutional order,” Díaz-Canel stated on social media on Monday, March 18, 2026. “They apply an outrageous pretext: the harsh limitations of the weakened economy that they have attacked and tried to isolate for more than six decades.”
Díaz-Canel further accused the administration of Donald Trump of attempting to cripple Cuba’s economy to force its surrender, alleging a desire to seize the island’s resources and properties. “Only then can one explain the fierce economic war that is applied as collective punishment against the entire people,” he warned.
The Cuban leader asserted that Cuba will not yield to the threats from Washington, declaring, “In the worst-case scenario, any external aggressor will encounter an impregnable resistance.”
The tensions reached a new peak after Trump publicly stated his ambition regarding Cuba. “I think I will have the honor of taking Cuba,” the U.S. President said on Monday, March 18, 2026, before clarifying, “I signify liberating it, or taking it. I think I can do whatever I wish. It is a very weakened nation at this time.”
According to reports, the White House is now insisting on Díaz-Canel’s removal from power to continue negotiations. Some officials within the Trump administration believe that removing the Cuban president would allow for structural changes to the country’s economy that Díaz-Canel would not otherwise accept.
Notably, the U.S. Is not currently pressuring Cuba to take action against members of the Castro family, who remain key power brokers in the country. This approach aligns with a broader strategy by Trump and his advisors to enforce compliance from the Cuban government rather than pursue a complete overhaul of its political system.
Simultaneously, Cuba is grappling with a widespread power outage that left millions without electricity on Monday, exacerbating an already dire energy crisis. Díaz-Canel blamed a U.S. Energy blockade for the situation, stating, “It is understandable the discomfort that prolonged power outages cause our people, as a result of the energy blockade by the U.S., cruelly intensified in recent months.”
The collapse affected nearly the entire country, prompting authorities to begin a gradual restoration of the power grid – a complex process that could take hours or even days due to the fragility of Cuba’s energy system. This marks the sixth total blackout in the past year and a half.
On Friday, March 15, 2026, Díaz-Canel confirmed that bilateral talks had taken place between Cuba and the United States, but noted that the island had not received fuel shipments in over three months, relying instead on solar energy, natural gas, and thermoelectric plants, as reported by The Guardian.
Cuba is facing an increasingly critical situation, with citizens exhausted by years of economic hardship and poverty. The lack of electricity, rising prices, strict fuel rationing, and medicine shortages have pushed many to the brink. The development underscores growing regional tensions and the potential for further instability in the Caribbean.
