Cuban president warns US military action would cause 'bloodbath'

US - Cuba relations have remained deeply strained for decades, shaped by the 1962 trade embargo, the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, and successive periods of diplomatic freeze. A limited diplomatic thaw initiated during the Obama administration was largely reversed under subsequent US policy, and Cuba remains on the US State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism. Díaz-Canel, who succeeded Raúl Castro as president in 2018, has consistently used confrontational rhetoric toward Washington while presiding over a country facing severe economic hardship and significant emigration pressure. His latest warning follows a pattern of preemptive declarations against perceived US military threats rather than a response to any confirmed imminent action.