Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) issued a pointed warning to Cuba’s leadership in an X post on Sunday, urging them to contact ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro for advice—if they can reach him—and suggesting they prepare to flee.
“My advice to the commies running Cuba and oppressing its people: Call Maduro and ask him what to do…If you can get through, that is. If I were you, I’d be looking for a new place to live,” Graham wrote on X.
The statement came in direct response to President Donald Trump’s earlier Truth Social post declaring an end to Venezuelan oil and financial flows to Cuba following a U.S. military operation that captured Maduro last week.
Trump wrote: “Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela. In return, Cuba provided “Security Services” for the last two Venezuelan dictators, BUT NOT ANYMORE! Most of those Cubans are DEAD from last weeks U.S.A. attack, and Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years. Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will. THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO! I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE. Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DJT.”
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel responded defiantly in a series of X posts on Sunday, rejecting U.S. demands and defending Cuba’s sovereignty.
In one thread, Díaz-Canel stated: (Translation: “They have no moral standing to point fingers at Cuba in anything, absolutely anything, those who turn everything into business, even human lives. Those who today hysterically rant against our nation do so sick with rage over the sovereign decision of this people to choose their political model.”)
He continued: (Translation: “Those who blame the Revolution for the severe economic shortages we suffer should shut up out of shame. Because they know and recognize that they are the result of the draconian measures of extreme asphyxiation that the US has applied to us for six decades and threatens to surpass now.”)
Díaz-Canel concluded: (Translation: “#Cuba is a free, independent and sovereign nation. No one dictates to us what to do. Cuba does not aggress, it is aggressed by the US for 66 years, and does not threaten, it prepares, willing to defend the Homeland to the last drop of blood. #CubaIsCourage”)
Earlier in the week, Díaz-Canel had expressed solidarity with Venezuela over casualties from the U.S. action, writing: (Translation: “We share with the people and Government of #Venezuela the pain of seeing brothers murdered by the imperialist invader. Our most heartfelt condolences and all our solidarity in this sad moment. We will not cease in denouncing this criminal act.”)
The exchange underscores the severed Cuba-Venezuela alliance following Maduro’s capture and the U.S. decision to redirect Venezuelan resources, heightening tensions in the region.
