Cynthia Thanda

U.S. President Donald Trump described Cuba as a “failed country” during his address to the 81st United Nations General Assembly on 22 September 2026, as pressure on the Caribbean island continues to intensify.

Trump said Cuba was “failing like never before” and claimed that the country was facing severe shortages of electricity, money and oil. He said Cuba was “only heading in one direction — down” and declared that “freedom will be coming to Cuba.”

Trump had earlier suggested the possibility of a “friendly takeover” of Cuba in February, as his administration increased economic pressure on the island.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla rejected Trump’s remarks in a Facebook post, saying that “none of the falsehoods” and “no slander” from the U.S. president could deny Cuba’s right to be a fully independent and sovereign country.

Rodríguez reiterated that Cuba does not pose a threat to the United States or any other country. He condemned the U.S. economic blockade, including restrictions affecting Cuba’s energy supplies, describing them as an “act of genocide” and “collective punishment.”

He said Cuba is “a country of peace” and deserves peace.

The U.S. pressure has also drawn criticism from African and other Global South leaders at the UN.

Angolan President João Lourenço called for an immediate end to the U.S. embargo on Cuba, rejecting the characterisation of Cuba as a terrorist threat.

“Cuba is not a terrorist state; it neither produces nor possesses nuclear weapons, chemical or material weapons that could constitute an imminent or real threat,” Lourenço said in his address to the General Assembly.

The presidents of Suriname and Brazil also called for an end to the U.S. blockade against Cuba.

The diplomatic exchanges come as Cuba faces a deepening energy crisis.

On Friday, 18 September 2026, millions of Cubans were left without electricity following another nationwide power-grid collapse. The blackout was at least the sixth major nationwide outage since January, according to the Associated Press, while other reports have described it as the seventh major blackout of the year.

The latest collapse came after a transmission line failure, with Cuban authorities also citing unstable weather conditions.

Cuba has experienced several major nationwide blackouts in 2026, including outages in March, July and August, amid fuel shortages and an ageing electricity system.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has expanded economic pressure on Havana. In January, Trump signed an executive order declaring a national emergency concerning Cuba and authorizing measures targeting countries that provide oil to the island.

The administration has also imposed additional sanctions and restrictions on entities connected to the Cuban government, military, and security apparatus.

In February, the United States began blocking oil tankers bound for Cuba, while foreign companies accused of assisting Cuba have faced pressure from Washington.

Despite the escalating pressure, Cuba has maintained that it is prepared to engage with the United States in talks to address bilateral issues.

Havana, however, has rejected negotiations involving a takeover of Cuba or the surrender of its sovereignty and control.