Cuba asserts right to self-defense in the event of a US attack

MEXICO CITY - Cuba intends to exercise its right to self-defense in the event of a military attack by the U.S., the country's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

"The anti-Cuban campaign aimed at justifying, without any excuse whatsoever, a military attack on Cuba is intensifying by the hour, with increasingly far-fetched accusations," wrote Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossio on the X platform.

"The U.S. is the aggressor. Cuba is the country under attack, acting in accordance with the principle of self-defense."

The Cuban Embassy in Washington and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Havana also reaffirmed Cuba's right to self-defense on X. The embassy stated that, through pretexts and lies, the "logical preparation" for a possible attack was being portrayed as something extraordinary.

This statement followed a report on Sunday by the U.S. news portal Axios on alleged preparations by the socialist-ruled island nation to deploy drones against U.S. targets in an emergency.

Axios reports, citing intelligence sources, that Cuba has acquired more than 300 military drones and has recently begun discussing plans to use them for attacks on the U.S. base at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, on U.S. military ships and possibly on Key West, Florida, which lies only around 170 kilometers from Havana.

Axios cited a senior U.S. official as saying the intelligence could serve as a potential "pretext for U.S. military action" and reflected the extent to which the administration of President Donald Trump views Cuba as a threat. The official also pointed to the reported presence of Iranian military advisers in Havana as a factor.

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This story was originally published May 17, 2026 at 2:26 PM.