Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel calls Trump's summit 'neocolonial' after US threats

Cuba's President Miguel Díaz-Canel on Saturday called the "Shield of the Americas" summit in Florida a "neocolonial" conference, after US President Donald Trump issued new threats against Havana at the summit.

The summit convened by Washington "with the assistance of right-wing governments from the region" was aimed at making these governments accept "the lethal use of US military force to resolve internal problems," President Díaz-Canel wrote on X. 

"It is an attack against the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, an attack on the aspirations of regional integration," Díaz-Canel added, referencing a declaration adopted by 33 Caribbean nations in Havana in 2014. 

Trump on Saturday touted his military actions on Iran and Venezuela to an audience of Latin American leaders and threatened Cuba with imminent actions at the "Shield of the Americas" summit, held at his golf club in the Miami area. 

"As we achieve a historic transformation in Venezuela, we're also looking forward to the great change that will soon be coming to Cuba," Trump said. "Cuba's at the end of the line. They're very much at the end of the line. They have no money. They have no oil. They have a bad philosophy. They have a bad regime that's been bad for a long time."

The summit saw Trump signing a proclamation to launch "America's Counter Cartel Coalition," a commitment from the US to use "lethal military force" across the Western Hemisphere, against "cartels and terrorist networks," according to Trump.

Other than Díaz-Canel, leaders from Brazil, Mexico and Colombia also did not attend the summit. 

Trump's remarks at the Saturday summit marked the latest in a series of threats against Cuba. On Friday, Trump told CNN that his administration will focus on the war with Iran at the moment, but Cuba will "fall pretty soon."

Cuba has been facing a severe economic and energy crisis since the US forcibly seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3 and heavily disrupted the Caribbean island nation's oil supplies from Venezuela and Mexico.

(With input from Xinhua)