Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has sharply criticized a regional summit hosted by US President Donald Trump in Florida, denouncing the event as a "small, reactionary, and neocolonial" assembly that undermines Latin American sovereignty.
Cuban President Condemns Trump-Hosted Regional Summit As 'Neocolonial' Gathering
The Caribbean nation is currently grappling with severe economic challenges, including widespread blackouts and acute shortages of food and medicine.
In a statement posted to social media on Saturday, Diaz-Canel accused the gathering—which brought together a dozen right-leaning leaders from the region—of endorsing the potential use of US military force to address domestic issues within their countries.
"It is an attack against the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, an assault on the aspirations for regional integration, and a manifestation of the willingness to subordinate oneself to the interests of the powerful Northern neighbour under the precepts of the Monroe Doctrine," Diaz-Canel wrote on X.
The Cuban leader's rebuke comes in response to the Florida summit, which focused on combating drug cartels and regional security cooperation. His statement also follows recent assertions by Trump regarding the island nation, which Diaz-Canel did not directly address but which have heightened tensions between Havana and Washington.
The summit occurred against the backdrop of stringent US sanctions on Cuba, including what Havana describes as a de facto oil blockade. The Caribbean nation is currently grappling with severe economic challenges, including widespread blackouts and acute shortages of food and medicine.
The Monroe Doctrine, referenced by Diaz-Canel, refers to the longstanding US policy opposing European colonialism in the Americas, though Latin American critics often invoke it to denounce what they perceive as Washington's interventionist tendencies in the region.
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