Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez on Friday denounced a new threat of military intervention against the Caribbean nation by US President Donald Trump.
In a post on X, Rodriguez rejected "any threat regarding US ambitions toward Cuba" in response to remarks by Trump, who said Friday that US ships "will pass" Cuba on their way back from Iran.
"They'll raise up their hands. And then we're going to send (Secretary of State) Marco Rubio in to finish up the deal," Trump said at a campaign rally in Fort Myers, in the southern US state of Florida. He said one of the ships would stop about 50 yards (about 46 meters) off the coast.
"On our shores there are beautiful beaches, but also diente de perro (a jagged coastal coral formation), inhospitable to those who arrive with hostile aims and a thirst for domination," Rodriguez wrote.
Rodriguez, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and other officials have denounced US threats of military intervention, which have escalated since early 2026, and defended the island's sovereignty and its right to self-defense.
In May, Trump said in Florida that the United States would be taking over Cuba "almost immediately."