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The Cuban ambassador to the United Nations has rejected the idea that his country would surrender to mounting US pressure, saying the country is “ready to defend” itself.

Some shit you should know before you dig in: If you’re unaware, Cuba is currently in the middle of its worst economic and energy crisis in decades, with the Trump administration imposing more than 240 sanctions on the country since 2025 and intercepting at least seven oil tankers headed to the island, cutting Cuba’s energy imports by 80% to 90%. The result has been blackouts lasting up to a day across the country and a projected 7.2% economic contraction for 2026, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit. Mexico has sent two aid ships to help, and a UN official said last month that the island is “running out of time” with fuel shortages now slamming hospitals and other essential services. Trump told a private dinner at the Forum Club in West Palm Beach, Florida last week that the US would “take Cuba almost immediately” after wrapping up operations in Iran, describing a scenario where the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln would park 100 yards off the Cuban coast and Havana would say, “Thank you very much. We give up.” Trump then signed an executive order Friday slapping new sanctions on Cuban officials and entities tied to the regime in energy, defense, mining, and financial services, plus secondary sanctions targeting any foreign bank still dealing with sanctioned Cuban entities.

What’s going on now: In an interview with Fox News, Cuban Ambassador to the UN Ernesto Soberón Guzmán pushed back hard on Trump’s takeover talk and growing speculation that the regime could fold under economic pressure. “If someone thinks that words like ‘give up,’ ‘surrender’ or ‘collapse’ are in the Cuban people’s dictionary, that person…..those people are sorely mistaken. In the Cuban dictionary, you will find words like ‘resilience,’ ‘resistance,’ ‘defense of our sovereignty’ and ‘defense of our independence.'”

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla called Trump’s threats a “clear and direct threat of military aggression” and said Cubans would not be intimidated. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel posted on social media that “no aggressor, no matter how powerful, will find surrender in Cuba,” and the Communist Party released a similar institutional statement.

This all comes as the US Senate on Monday killed Senator Tim Kaine’s Democratic resolution 51-47, which would have required Trump to come to congress before taking any military action against Cuba.