Cuba defends military drills as deterrent against US aggression

HAVANA - Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel defended his country’s military preparedness exercises on Jan 24 as a deterrent against potential aggression from the United States.

US President Donald Trump warned earlier in January that Cuba “is ready to fall” and told Havana to “make a deal” or pay a price similar to Venezuela, whose

leader Nicolas Maduro was captured by US forces and taken to America

in a Jan 3 bombing raid that killed dozens of people.

Venezuela was a key ally of Cuba and a critical supplier of oil and money, which Mr Trump has vowed to cut off.

Mr Diaz-Canel on Jan 24 supervised the military exercises, which included a tank unit from Cuba’s armed forces.

He was accompanied by General Alvaro Lopez Miera, who is Minister of the Armed Forces, and other high-ranking military officials.

“The best way to prevent aggression is for imperialism to have to calculate the price of attacking our country,” Mr Diaz-Canel said in remarks broadcast on Cuban television.

“And that has a lot to do with our preparation for this type of military action... This takes on significant importance in the current circumstances,” he added.

Cuba’s National Defence Council, which is led by Mr Diaz-Canel, held a meeting recently “with the objective of increasing and improving the level of preparedness and cohesion” among the country’s leadership, according to an official government statement.

The council met to “analyse and approve the plans and measures for transitioning to a State of War”, the statement added, without providing further details.

These military exercises are part of the country’s preparation “under the strategic concept of the War of the Entire People”, a term used by the authorities for the mobilisation of civilians in the event of armed conflict. AFP