Interview with Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla

Cuba Analysis: Welcome to the Cuba Analysis Podcast. We are to be here with you, the Minister of International Relations of Cuba, Bruno Rodriguez. Minister, thank you for taking some time off your tight schedule to talk to us today. Nina will start with the question. Minister, before talking about international I would to start with you. has been at forefront of Cuban for almost two decades and has represented Cuba in some of the most complex in its recent How did you to this responsibility and what has meant personally for you to represent your country for so many years? Too long already. It's been years, indeed. And fortunately, there many young people ready and prepared who could do it better than me. I don't usually talk about personal but I was assigned to this responsibility and I on it for purpose of serving. Fortunately, they the principles of the foreign policy of the Republic of Cuba, its traditions, its fundamental elements, the instructions and guidelines of the Cuban Parliament and the President of the Republic and the government to develop it with my deepest convictions. So that is when one feels that his instructions coincide with personal convictions, everything becomes simpler. And that a characteristic of Cuban revolutionary If I put aside diplomatic language for a moment and speak simply as a Cuban how would I the simplest way possible, What is living under an economic blockade for more than 60 years? I can do it easily because Cuban diplomacy has a deep root and popular because the Cuban diplomats and my family We the same circumstances that our people And because I ⁓ under the United States My son, is already 26 years old, was under conditions of the blockade. There several generations. And the country has suffered periods of an extraordinary especially marked by the blockade, in the decade you knew from 1990. But there is no doubt that is a qualitative change in the impact of the blockade since 2019 and in particular since the executive orders of January and May of 2026. The suffering. that our people, that every Cuban, the deprivation, the anguish, are extreme in a coercive that constitutes an act of collective We will talk that later. But the second part of that question is, what is your response to those who claim that the difficulties of Cuba are consequences of their political system and the inefficiency or corruption of their leaders. They lie. They lie systematically. these six decades, various pretexts to try to justify an act qualified as genocide by the conventions and international but it is extraordinarily cynical to try to the government, to to blame the constitutional that the Cuban people have freely given in reiterated references of the consequences of a blockade of extreme that includes acts that are typical of the war period. that are equivalent to a naval blockade, such as the energy Or terribly violatory of law and of the recognized international such as the intimidation of the shipping companies that transport goods to Cuba. At the moment there are more than 7,000 containers that fundamentally contain food. medicines and medical paralyzed by that threat and intimidation in various ports, even some of our region that cannot reach the family. But the worst of all is that these very serious humanitarian whose data probably more painful and relevant is the duplication of the infant mortality rate of children born alive who die due to the conditions that blockade Despite having a public health of recognized illustrates what is happening. But the US and the Department don't even They treat this issue as if it were the so-called collateral which is an unacceptable and criminal because the humanitarian that these extreme of blockade are causing are part of a deliberately coldly calculated The Secretary of State, who has lied a lot saying that blockade does exist and that the energy does not exist, few days has just declared that will cut any exit that the Cuban that will any valve to the fixie that causes the extreme of the blockade. So it is notoriously perverse to provoke these circumstances and try to blame our government, our people. of the terrible they are causing. Every year, the United Nations all countries around world vote against the US Cuba. After each vote, a dozen diplomats approach the Cuban delegation to greet them. What conversations do they What prevents these countries from the United States' What are the unilateral There is an international spirit, probably established, that is not only in these annual but in a resolution that calls for its name. and directly to United States to stop the application of the blockade There are numerous expressions of opposition and rejection of this policy of hostility and blockade throughout the planet and within the United States itself it is noticeable that most of the oppose the application. of the blockade and the social on digital networks in studies carried out during the month of July, shows that is only a small minority that would support the conditions of energy selco or military against Cuba. Nations and not only in the blockade, Sometimes the Cuban delegation is also seriously for being some way, in a way, a voice of the opinion of the global or of many countries. Cuba can speak with complete freedom, can exercise an policy. totally independent and sovereign. And many times it is recognized also by saying directly or more directly what many think, what most of the United Nations consider. And happens in votes like these or even in the most recently out extraordinarily. on 7th, on the consideration of this issue outside of usual Because there is clear international that the policy of blocking is illegal, is criminal, a genocide on the Cuban is an act of punishment. is a of international law, including international humanitarian law, is obsolete, this policy is in the foundations of the Cold contradicts the will of the international community, contradicts the will of the American voters and and also of Cubans living in the United And since it has a clearly extraterrestrial it the sovereignty and independence of all states, exception. And it only affects the real of the United States, but it the interests of all nations, of their companies. Well, the European Union... Soon after, was given an anti-duty that would its governments to support interests of their companies in the of the illegal application of North American or the extension of the jurisdiction of the American outside their borders. However, does apply with determination. Nor the European that constitute a community that has weight in international reality, applies the anti-dote that have voted for, defends in a very shy too shy, their own interests in the voracity of their competitors. And my opinion, what is worse is that Cuba not only has a certain symbolism, but it also an international interruption in relation to the international If a superpower is to to a small sovereign nation to change its political system... conditions that would allow the same to with any state on planet. As you started mentioning, since beginning of 2026, Trump issued two executive that designated Cuba as a threat to national security and States, and in fact a oil blockade. How is this increase in the reaction against Cuba explained since 2026? We should ask the US which with pretexts and lies tries to that policy. But if it the consequences... humanitarian and economic it would seem serious to claim that an island of this size could constitute a threat to the main power. The truth is that I Cuba is nor can it threat to national or the economy of States. is neither an enemy nor intends to an There are cultural and multifaceted between the American people and the Cuban people. But this government of the United States desperately to try to justify the atrocious that it against our people. The same thing with the accusations against Cuba, which supposedly that terrorism. But these acts show the little seriousness of the government of the United A president makes a decision and the current president, in his first term, revents and re-qualifies Cuba in this way. The next president, It does the opposite and the first day in the White House, current Republican does the same is supposed to be result of interagency consultations, of having solid It represents not only a totally mendacious which also has very serious from point of view of the national security for Cuba and also humanitarian. The whole world recognizes its falsehood and of course it does contribute in any way to the real interest of the United States that could benefit from a normal relationship inspired by good neighborhood, cooperation, trade, investment against a small country nearby. What has been the impact of these measures in economic and social For example, international and health Yes, it is just a measure, but it an oppressive of coercive that comes from a historic of six decades that has caused extraordinary damage to a small-scale like the Cuban one, but after an extreme hardening, particularly since the second half of 2019, although some actions were Even in the worst moment of the COVID-19 when US relaxed the sanctions systems in relation to practically all countries subject to it, it applied additional measures in relation to Cuba, which included the obstacles of the acquisition of fulminating medical oxygen, took the virus as an opportunistic to harden the conditions of the blockade. But January 2026 marks another significant when in practice it decrees an energy circle that is totally equivalent to a naval blockade, which is a war to prevent, even from a while before, with the the presence of military and the military in the Caribbean the arrival of fuel here. If Cuba could acquire minimum fuel today, electricity could be reduced to two or three hours a day. The supply of to the population would improve considerably. I have shown photos in United of a surgery in a lighted with the mobile phones of staff, the food situation would be much worse. And you consistently lied, especially the Secretary of State, when he said that Cuba received free It's totally it's lie. Cuba received fuel in normal trade based on some export cases of medical and other, in acquisition of fuel, in worse than those the international due to country's of generating hostility. But today... The reality is that the energy sector has very serious for our people and for our economy. And starts to be accompanied by direct to prevent the arrival of merchant to Cuba, not only with fuel, but with products and goods from any nature. Many of these products have been acquired by micro, small, medium, private companies, Cuban companies, were paid. The shipping companies that do not transport those containers to Cuba are flagrantly the contracts that signed and the commitments that they from the payments they received from that transportation. And those containers they have in to socio-humanitarian in which our people US has threatened to attack militarily. Is it a psychological or do it is planning a aggression? It is a threat that we take seriously, very seriously, and is of the utmost importance. We should see what happens with the current international order if nuclear superpowers to attack a small island to change their political system, to change their government. Secondly, is just about rhetorical is public, as the American the Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, other figures of the US they constantly that the military option against Cuba, that that military aggression against Cuba is among the options that are on the President's so that he a decision. So, although there factors of propaganda, psychological is public and notorious that real are to carry out a military against Cuba. Our people would undoubtedly defend, ⁓ in the last consequences, their independence, their sovereignty, the territorial of our homeland. and would a truly tragic that would cause loss of lives of Cubans and also of young Americans who would be sent to a war that has nothing to do with them. It would cause a bloodbath and at the same time generate regional would prevent the United States from ever fulfilling the goal of occupying and pacifying and controlling our country, which would an impossible as many American and European analysts are extremely serious recognizing, but it would generate regional throughout the Caribbean the Gulf of Mexico. in commercial routes, air in the conditions of the neighboring in Cuba, which are only the States. The US would provoked by a criminal, genocidal an extraordinary discredit and a deepening the international that it for their policy of blocking and hostility against our country. We, with all realism, prepare ourselves for the defense of our nation, is the Cuban and we hope it never happens. And we work again to avoid any to prevent the US from generating conditions that lead to bilateral escalation. But the time, we have said and will firmly defend our free will determination. I be the best interest of the United Nations Security Council. The General Assembly expressed itself on 7 through dozens dozens of speeches by representatives of member of all regions against a military against Cuba and also the end of the energy and the persecution. of the maritime to Cuba. But I convinced that the world needs, humanity needs a wide of will, of all honest of all governments, of all nations to prevent the international order leading the planet to A situation overcome by humanity, many decades ago, of looting, conquest, occupation of territory, occupation of enclaves considered strategic, proliferation of weapons of very high lethality or autonomous, development of armamentist against the interests of all. of the risk of transferring the armamentist to the space of the danger of nuclear that generates the mere existence of huge arsenals, but only the explosion of 100 nuclear beams would cause the disappearance of species. I am convinced that the conjunction of international organizations, governments, parliaments, political forces, popular society are joining together to stop this path that puts danger the mere existence of human life on the planet. And how then has become a kind of symbol, being a small history has into... in an international symbol of independence, rebellion against oppression and injustice, and also in a symbol of solidarity. dozens dozens of countries, solidarity has during the COVID-19 in Italy in particular, or in Andorra. For example, we feel that Cuba is in any way, that the Cuban cause receives a broad international and we trust that international community stop any military adventure against Cuba and the cessation these policies that are also genocidal, that also cause deaths, that also kill. although they are not bombs, such as the total energy or the impediment to the arrival of first-need of our population. The Secretary of State States, Marco Rubio, is one of the main defenders of a tougher towards Cuba. Recently, he actions. Every time they create a new mechanism to try to escape the rope, we simply tighten it. At the time, it was noted that the US has provided 100 million dollars in humanitarian to the Cuban To contextualize Cuba in a way that the US blockade costs the country between 7 and 8 billion dollars annually. Could you comment on these contradictory The blockade Cuba causes daily impacts that higher than 900,000 dollars. is, almost a million dollars. equivalent to current blockade. This is the same Secretary of State who, they recent will it, having stated that the blockade does exist and that the energy circle does exist either. It is curious because it directly contradicts the President of the United States or the President's in relation to these with these issues. Who could benefit from the destruction of the Cuban from the destruction of our country, if not a small group ⁓ of corrupt generally settled in the south of Florida, pushed? In the place, because of desire for revenge in relation to revolution, inherited ideas, they sins from the people who served in the bloody dictatorship of the Batista in which they stole from the of Yen, in which that benefited from the corruption of the time, the emigration of numerous war criminals, and invoke today some reasons for revenge and and recovery, of the reversion of our country to the decade of 1950. They the who embody The most radical and extreme are the that push the US against Cuba without thinking about the terrible consequences it There politicians in the US who also want to liquidate the character of alternatives. that the historical of Cuba poses, in of capitalism, the of neoliberalism, more orthodox, in face of fascist neo-fascist that tend to win land in this time and that concern the existence of an alternative to impose on the planet and to impose on a series of countries in recent years. Because Cuba represents the vision of a plurality of cultures, a plurality of thought, of a plurality of political models, according to historical and the right to freedom. determination of peoples. But only that small chamber could benefit, first of the current policies that the US or from a escalation or an worsening of the bilateral Because it is in the best interest of the Americans, of those who pay taxes. of those who elect the governments and also of the Cuban residents there, to advance towards a process of normalization of relations based on the elimination of the blockade and the threat against our country. But regarding humanitarian aid, we are a country that has provided an important international and is still a global medical cooperation in various regions of planet. probably the most important international medical cooperation transmitter in conditions of southern cooperation of the planet. Cooperation that has been pursued in a way that is also for political Cuba has accepted international cooperation and help, our people need the difficult we are living But the announcement of the 100 million that occurred, according to what remember, the Holy See, did not exist had contacted the Cuban or the Cuban government at all. And was there, nothing less than in the Holy Sede, that the Cuban government refused to that humanitarian of 100 million. It had been preceded by an offering of humanitarian of 3 million, which was executed and reached to alleviate the situation of a small of Cuban because we are talking about a large Then, a 9 million which was later said to 6 million, of which only a small part and the 100 million, only a a small for 700 families. A small help for 700 families should never be Humanitarian and less humanitarian for political and to generate manipulations and situations. But our government, together with the The is still ready to facilitate the reception of this help in the of our people. US Department State recently the report Cuba, the Capital of Communism of the 21st which describes Cuba as a subversive global that guided the left, States and international for decades. This report is published in the context of the reaffirmation of the Monroe and the return of governments of the right-wing elected in many Latin American Several governments have broken diplomatic with Cuba. What are the implications of that right-wing for Cuba and the region? How do you to that report from the State It is ⁓ difficult to give serious answer to a document that is rigorous. I would to know with what artificial intelligence That document I've read almost 100 pages. It has cost me a tremendous effort to to the end because it's a mix of lies, falsities, manipulations, but done with very poor work, with huge lack of rigor. I am convinced that... serious and professional in State have to be ashamed that their institution has published such level. Many international analysts have to argue with me about the falsities they have. But even in the middle of official of US and international of the order and the proclamations in their national security and national defense of who their strategic who their adversaries to present Cuba as the origin of evil and as... the nation that has the capacity to overthrow the US does allow a serious But in the macarthism and in the construction of the processes that led to the Second World and the development of fascism, things as absurd as those and there people who believed them. At first, In the 1960s, an operation by the CIA made the lie that the Cuban was going eliminate the father's potestat over the children. And that led to 14,000 children alone to the United States, to orphaned children without care home, to orphaned from a lie. ⁓ absurd, but there were people who believed So, could not underestimate the Ghebelian that the US follows, also on its ownership and control of the large technological that today have a tremendous impact, not only on information, but on behavior and the ability to think. critically of people on a planetary I have stated that if the young Americans, if the American received more information, true, exact information, themselves, they would prevent these atrocious that their government applies against Cuba and in other latitudes from But I totally reject it. the statements that are made which have a very serious is to justify the military against Cuba on the hand, justify collective and genocide and also justify repression and persecution against organizations of civil society and the United States, some of which have been in solidarity with Cuba. Some have organized trips to Cuba, others have a policy that is essentially repressive, violating civil liberties and human rights. The US government not only prevents American from traveling to Cuba, for example, and it their freedom of but also repression. recently in universities, the acts of great incult against the thought, against the illustrated of States have been extraordinary. So it is a report that being ridiculous and false, however, must take seriously the objectives to which it is functional, including the deepest racism. and xenophobia and persecution of immigrants and the use of extreme right against progressivism in general and against the American of these macartist and repressive is true that history generates advances and retrocesses. It is a kind of spiral. that must be with a historical sense, a dialectical of history. But you can never underestimate the historical in favor of progress, in favor of social in favor of overcoming of neoliberalism and neoliberal in favor of the overcoming of production and consumption are irrational and unsustainable and put in danger the existence of life itself on the planet. So these right-wing happen in time, but I have deep conviction and I am optimistic that a historical accumulation But in any circumstances, Cuba has had very deep they are essentially cultural, they are affectionate with all Latin American and Caribbean No political no government, and all governments are ephemeral, can affect those ties. And the people will quickly realize ⁓ how neoliberal of extreme right, etc., that disassemble social conquests that occurred in previous periods, will have to end up the middle of the greatest discredit. So what? We believe that ties with all Latin American and Caribbean and also with most of their governments will continue to And there countries with which Cuba has historically has today a very intense And the people have deep and deep ties similar to the people and that cannot be ignored. So, some governments of the that have acted in a totally subordinate to the government of States, to this government of States, have acted against its history, against its tradition, against the aspirations and feelings of its peoples, will pass, will pass soon. and one will remember them. When we about the blockade, we usually think that it is only about the costs for Cuba. However, are also losses for the population of the United States and the whole world. Could you talk about these losses? Well, I mentioned before that the blockade in Cuba damages everyone's in the world. Because it is a transgression of national laws, of sovereign of states, of the independence of all states. Because damages its national interests, of all countries, exception. Because it damages the interests of its businessmen, of its social sectors. diverse cultural, academic, scientific, in all areas, and also causes economic The US government frequently appeals to the application of coercive against other states, while preserving the ability to economic with the country that is supposedly prevents its ties with the third. This is very symptomatic in the case of Europe, example, in the field of gas, the field of fuel, or in other fields, in which the United States has tried to appropriate and exploit geopolitical in order to impose peoples and European governments. truly honorable. It has happened with the Aranceles, it in various... in various... areas. So I would say that there for any nation, a damage, a political an ethical a damage from the point of view of ⁓ international and national law, the intention of imposing... to other countries. The decisions of the American courts on the issues in which they do have jurisdiction or to try to companies or people from third countries to be by extraterritorial American a real to that function. Secondly, in the case of the United States, for example, and many them are deprived of some scientific advances, said modestly, that are now unique in Cuba. For example, the field of therapeutic against cancer, in the field of new medicines and treatments against diabetes and foot... the use of diabetes for the treatment of neurodegenerative including Alzheimer's. Why couldn't people in States benefit from these treatments, which would be much cheaper, and today is shown that are more effective than those applied in the United States? The persecution of States from the Cooperation of Cuba, which intends to the same to developed where it as to countries in global to entire whose only medical are those that lend in remote and to sectors of low income, Cuban Cuba has today one of the most modern and competitive in world. in the field biomedical pharmaceutical. How many European could quickly their own vaccines against COVID-19? For example, Cuba, in record and with a minimum of resources, could produce five vaccines. However, today, against the subsidiary of North American in field pharmaceutical. and general, registered in Europe, are forced to follow the blockade against Cuba. The corporations that have the same global or international scale. So, is the extraterritorial of the blockade, which is genocide in relation to the Cuban even if there are no bombings or... but that causes death, causes suffering and also damages all the nations of the planet. That is why it is that is a rejection, practically unanimous, on an international We have reached the last question. In almost 70 years of conflict, all the American presidents have tried to provoke a regime in Cuba. None them have achieved it. What does this fact about the actual of this policy and about the resilience of the Cuban system? Well, recognized American of the right-wing side questioned the policy of hostility and blockade against Cuba. He that that time was 50 years. said that 50 years of applying a failed should make anyone think of looking for another policy. Because the reality is that the policy of hostility and blockade has made the States advance a millimeter in the objectives that has proclaimed of one nature or another. in relation to Cuba. And no how extreme their measures will work and it ⁓ will bring the current government or anyone else to the objectives that are being which are the objectives of recovering domination over Cuba, of returning Cuba to the worst years. of a neo-colonial that totally on delivering the country to the American as it was during the Sismes, or allowing them to return to Cuba the hordes of thieves, corrupts, torturers, who went to the South. ⁓ of modifications in bilateral I don't want to mention presidents in particular, but I must say that these experiences showed, first all, that it is possible to advance in bilateral that is possible to align or stop at some of the more application atroces of the blockade against Cuba, that is possible to that is possible to find solutions to some bilateral problems through dialogue and negotiation. They also that Cuba is an interlocutor, is a serious and recognized that honors its commitments, that fulfills his word, which is an international serious. He also that is a broad consensus in the Cuban people and in the American people in favor of overcoming these policies of coercion and blockade and privileging links of trade cooperation that would benefit both sides. We have repeated and I repeat the disposition of the Cuban government to continue conversations with the United States on the mere basis that establishes international law, standing of equality, mutual reciprocal for both peoples, without interference in the internal of of the two countries without preconditions. And those experiences in previous decades also showed that this left an important to US in relation to its own people. For example, 400,000 US and so many Cubans living in the US. They to visit Cuba in 2018. got the experience hand. They direct information from the reality. This also created a great support for the American people and Cubans living in States, including the South of Florida. convinced that the accumulation, the historical well, if it with this government, we would time, if not, it be with another, but in the end, a civilized, productive and respectful between both peoples, which also has an expression in the links between both governments. We're Is there you want to I thank you for visiting us, for sharing your private lives these days. And that deep interest, not only because you know Cuba well, but also you citizens around the world, but in particular in Europe and the United States, information.