CUBAN President Miguel Diaz-Canel warned on Thursday that while it did not want war with the United States, his country was prepared to defend itself.

President Diaz-Canel spoke during a rally that drew thousands of people to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the declaration of the Cuban Revolution’s socialist essence.

Mr Diaz-Canel said: “The moment is extremely challenging and calls upon us once again, as on April 16 1961, to be ready to confront serious threats, including military aggression. We do not want it, but it is our duty to prepare to avoid it and if it becomes inevitable, to defeat it.”

He spoke as tensions remain high between the two countries, with Cuba’s crises deepening due to an illegal US energy blockade.

US President Donald Trump said, earlier this week, that his administration could focus on Cuba after the war in Iran ends.

“We may stop by Cuba after we finish with this,” he said. He described it as a “failing nation,” asserting that it’s “been a terribly run country for a long time.”

President Trump has previously threatened to intervene in Cuba, including in early January, when the US military attacked Venezuela and halted key oil shipments to Havana.

Weeks later, President Trump threatened tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba.

President Diaz-Canel accused the Trump administration of trying to construct a “narrative” that has no justification.

He told Thursday’s rally: “Cuba is not a failed state. Cuba is a besieged state. Cuba is a state facing multidimensional aggression: economic warfare, an intensified blockade and an energy blockade.

“Cuba is a threatened state that does not surrender. And despite everything. And thanks to socialism. Cuba is a state that resists, creates, and, make no mistake, will prevail.”