Diaz-Canel rejects Trump’s threats, emphasising Cuba’s independence and commitment to defending its sovereignty.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has said that there are no current talks between Havana and the United States, as US President Donald Trump ratchets up threats against Cuba following his attack on Venezuela.

Diaz-Canel stated in a social media post on Monday that routine coordination on immigration continues between Cuba and the US, but that no larger talks are currently taking place.

“We have always been willing to maintain serious and responsible dialogue with the various US administrations, including the current one, on the basis of sovereign equality, mutual respect and the principles of international law,” Diaz-Canel said.

He added that relations between the US and Cuba should be based on international law rather than “hostility, threats, and economic coercion”.

Trump has said that the US could ramp up pressure on Cuba after the US abduction of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro in a January 3 attack that killed at least 100 people, including 32 members of the Cuban security forces in the country for security cooperation.

The US president stated on Sunday that Venezuelan oil supplies to Cuba would be cut off and that the government in Havana should “make a deal” with the US before it’s “too late”. Trump also told reporters that the US was “talking to Cuba” without offering further details.

Diaz-Canel responded to Trump’s comments on Sunday by saying that Cuba was a “free, independent, and sovereign” country and would defend itself “to the last drop of blood”.

Venezuelan oil was an important economic lifeline to Cuba, isolated and under heavy US sanctions, providing 35,000 barrels of oil per day before the US attack, according to estimates from Jorge Pinon of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin.

Pinon, who tracks the shipments, also estimates that Mexico supplies Cuba with approximately 5,500 barrels of oil per day, while Russia supplies 7,500.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has previously said that the US attack on Venezuela has increased the relative importance of Mexican oil to Cuba, but that Mexico has not increased oil sales to Havana.

Sheinbaum, who has responded to recent threats from Trump of possible military strikes against criminal groups on Mexican soil with a firm insistence on the country’s sovereignty, said that she spoke with Trump on Monday to discuss cooperation on issues such as commerce, security, and drug trafficking.

“We had a very good conversation with US President Donald Trump,” Sheinbaum said in a social media post, adding that the talks included a discussion of security “with respect to our sovereignties”.

“Collaboration and cooperation within a framework of mutual respect always yield results,” she said.