(Washington, 22nd) US Secretary of State Rubio warned on the 21st that the United States is committed to changing Cuba's communist system.
The US side recently accused former Cuban President Raul Castro of crimes including murder in an indictment, as part of continued pressure on the Cuban government.
The US military announced that the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and its strike group arrived in the Caribbean this week. Asked whether this move was intended to intimidate Cuba, US President Trump said, "Absolutely not."
Rubio, a Cuban-American, frequently criticizes the Cuban government harshly and described Cuba as a "failed state."
He told reporters in Miami: "Their economic system doesn't work, it has collapsed, and it can't be fixed under the current political system."
He also said that Cuba has always posed a national security threat to the United States, and pointed out that cooperation between Cuba and China and Russia in the fields of weapons and intelligence is increasingly close.
Rubio stated that Cuba has initially accepted a $100 million aid package offered by the US, with Washington viewing this sum as an incentive to promote reform in Cuba. But he also said it is still unclear whether the US will accept Cuba's conditions, because Washington insists on bypassing the military enterprise system that dominates Cuba's economy.
In response, Cuban President Díaz-Canel posted on social media on the 21st, condemning the US government's indictment of Raul Castro and emphasizing that the Cuban people will not tolerate insults to their history and national heroes.
Díaz-Canel said the Cuban people have stubbornly overcome difficulties and shortages caused by the blockade in daily life. He stated that the US government's indictment of Raul Castro has further united the Cuban people and enhanced Cuba's national pride and anti-imperialist sentiment.