Diaz-Canel shuts down talk of US–Cuba negotiations amid Trump threats

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has pushed back against claims from Washington that talks are under way between Havana and the United States, saying there are no negotiations beyond routine coordination on migration.

In a social media post on Monday, Diaz-Canel said that while technical cooperation on immigration continues, there are no broader diplomatic discussions taking place with the Trump administration.

“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 wrote.

He added that relations between the two countries should rest on international law, not “hostility, threats, and economic coercion”.

The statement comes as US President Donald Trump ramps up pressure on Cuba following the US attack on Venezuela earlier this month and the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Trump has openly suggested that Cuba should “make a deal” with Washington and warned that Venezuelan oil supplies to the island would be cut off.

On Sunday, Trump claimed the US was “talking to Cuba”, though he offered no details. Diaz-Canel quickly rejected that framing, saying Cuba is a “free, independent, and sovereign” nation and would defend itself “to the last drop of blood”.

The escalation carries serious economic implications for Havana. Venezuela has long been Cuba’s most important energy lifeline, supplying an estimated 35,000 barrels of oil per day before the US attack on Caracas, according to Jorge Pinon of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin.

Pinon estimates that Mexico supplies Cuba with about 5,500 barrels of oil per day, while Russia provides roughly 7,500 barrels. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has said that Venezuela’s collapse as a supplier has increased Mexico’s relative importance, though she insists Mexico has not expanded shipments to the island.

Trump’s warning about cutting off Venezuelan oil follows the January 3 US operation in Venezuela, which killed at least 100 people, including 32 members of Cuban security forces stationed there as part of bilateral cooperation.

Sheinbaum, who has faced her own tensions with Trump after he floated the idea of US military action against criminal groups on Mexican soil, said she spoke with the US president on Monday. The call, she said, covered commerce, security and drug trafficking, while reaffirming respect for national sovereignty.

“We had a very good conversation with US President Donald Trump,” Sheinbaum wrote. “Collaboration and cooperation within a framework of mutual respect always yield results.”

For Cuba, however, Diaz-Canel’s message was blunt: there is no deal on the table, and no dialogue under pressure. As Washington widens its confrontation with Venezuela and signals that Havana could be next, the space for de-escalation appears to be narrowing fast.