Cuban president says ‘dialogue and deals’ with US ‘possible’ but ‘difficult’

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Sunday that any possible agreements or discussions with the United States are “possible” but “difficult” amid heightened tensions between the two countries.

“I think we can have an approach in terms of what is possible and what is difficult. I think dialogue and deals with the U.S. government are possible, but they’re difficult,” Díaz-Canel told NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet The Press.”

“Cuba has always stood by its commitments, and the United States have not fulfilled its part of the deal,” he continued, adding that there is “a lot of distrust” with the U.S.

Díaz-Canel’s remarks follow months of tension between the U.S. and Cuba amid the former’s military operations in Venezuela and Iran, as well as what is effectively an oil blockade on the Caribbean island.

Last month, President Trump said he believes the U.S. will have the “honor” of taking over Cuba amid the fuel blockade and talk of regime change.

“Whether I free it, take it, I think I can do anything I want with it,” Trump said of Cuba at the White House in March. “You want to know the truth, they’re a very weakened nation now.”

Díaz-Canel, on Sunday, weighed in on this fraught relationship, telling Welker he would put his life on the line for his country.

“I have no fear. I am willing to give my life for the revolution,” he said, adding that Havana is bracing for a possible military attack from the U.S.

There have been reports that the Trump administration is seeking to oust Díaz-Canel. Those around the president have also expressed their distaste with the Cuban leader.

“They’re in a lot of trouble, and the people in charge, they don’t know how to fix it, so they have to get new people in charge,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in March, referencing the Cuban economy.

More than half of Americans, however, are opposed to any U.S. military action in Cuba. A March poll from The Economist/YouGov found that about 53 percent of respondents oppose the use of force to spark regime change. Twenty-three percent said they backed such a move.

“We have a free sovereign state – a free state. We have self-determination and independence, and we are not subjected to the designs of the United States,” Díaz-Canel said Sunday.