Cuba accuses US of justifying possible aggression after Axios reports Havana purchasing over 300 drones

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said the United States was falsifying information after Axios reported that Havana had purchased more than 300 drones and was considering drone strikes on American targets.

Rodriguez wrote about this on the social network X.

"Without any legal basis, the US government creates falsifications day after day to justify a brutal economic war against the Cuban people and possible military aggression. Certain media outlets play along with it, spreading slander and publishing insinuations from the US government itself," the Cuban Foreign Minister said in a post.

He noted that Cuba does not threaten or seek war. However, the country defends peace and prepares to resist external aggression, exercising the right to self-defense in accordance with the UN Charter, the official added.

Previously, Axios, citing classified US intelligence, wrote that Cuba had acquired more than 300 military drones and had recently begun discussing drone attacks on the US base at Guantanamo Bay, US warships, and the city of Key West in Florida, which is 145 km from the Cuban capital of Havana.

According to US officials, Cuba has been purchasing various versions of attack drones from Russia and Iran since 2023 and has been deploying them in strategic locations across the island. Over the past month, Cuban officials have been trying to obtain more drones and military equipment from Russia.

The publication also claimed that the Donald Trump administration views Cuba as a growing threat due to the development of drone technology and the presence of Iranian military advisors in Havana.

Axios recalled that CIA Director John Ratcliffe visited Cuba on May 14, where he directly warned officials there “against engaging in hostile activities”. He also urged them to “dismantle their totalitarian government” to end US sanctions, a CIA spokesman told Axios.

Next week, the US Department of Justice plans to unseal an indictment against Cubaʼs de facto leader Raul Castro accusing him of ordering the 1996 shooting down of two planes belonging to the Miami-based human rights group Brothers to the Rescue.

What is happening between Cuba and the USA?

In late January, US President Donald Trump declared a national emergency over Cuba and threatened tariffs on countries that supply it with oil. Trump accused Cuba of cooperating with states hostile to the US, including Russia, China and Iran, and of supporting the Hamas and Hezbollah groups.

According to him, Cuba allows Russian and Chinese intelligence and military facilities to be located there, which monitor the US. Trump also said that the Cuban government violates human rights, persecutes the opposition, restricts freedom of speech and puts pressure on civil society.

The Cuban government responded by declaring that the United States posed a threat to the country and declared an international emergency. The blockade caused a complete collapse of Cubaʼs energy system, with a blackout on the island as the country ran out of fuel for its power plants.

The authorities were forced to cancel classes, restrict the work of hospitals and transport. The crisis also sparked public protests, and airlines suspended flights to the island due to a shortage of jet fuel.

On March 6, Trump said that the Cuban government was “soon to fall” and that he wanted to make a deal with it. Trump also said that he intended to make US Secretary of State Marco Rubio his deputy in Cuba.

After Trumpʼs tariff order, neither Mexico nor Venezuela sent oil to Cuba, although they were previously the islandʼs main energy suppliers. As early as March 19, the FT reported that Russia had sent two tankers with oil and gas to Cuba, despite US restrictions. These were the first fuel deliveries to the island in three months. Trump himself said that he saw no problem in supplying Russian oil to Cuba.

On April 18, Axios, citing sources, wrote that a US State Department delegation visited Cuba on April 10, the first time since President Barack Obamaʼs visit to the island in 2016. The main issue of the negotiations then was the implementation of large-scale political and economic reforms, on which the American side insists.

On May 14, it became known that the island of Cuba had run out of diesel and fuel oil, which sparked protests in the capital Havana.

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