Cuba calls US meet ‘neocolonial’

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Saturday that the Latin American summit convened in Florida by his US counterpart was “neocolonial,” after Donald Trump asserted the island nation is in “its final moments.

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Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel gestures during the Brics summit second plenary session in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in this file photo taken on July 6, 2025.

(AFP)

“The small, reactionary and neocolonial summit in Florida, convened by the US with the participation of right-wing governments from the region, commits them to accepting the lethal use of US military force to solve internal problems and to maintain order and peace in their countries,” Diaz-Canel said in an X post.

The summit gathered a dozen leaders aligned with Washington to address the fight against drug cartels as Mr Trump imposes a de facto oil blockade on Cuba, which has faced blackouts and shortages of food and medicine.

Mr Trump on Saturday urged Latin American nations to use military power against the “cancer” of drug cartels, offering to support them with US missile strikes targeting narco kingpins.

Mr Trump laid out a muscular position for advancing Washington's interests in the Western hemisphere, pronouncing that communist-led Cuba was “in its last moments of life”.

He also advocated tough action by allies against organised crime blighting the region.