Mexico City, 18 May 2026 (dpa/MIA) – Cuba intends to exercise its right to self-defence in the event of a military attack by the US, the country's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

"The anti-Cuban campaign aimed at justifying, without any excuse whatsoever, a military attack on Cuba is intensifying by the hour, with increasingly far-fetched accusations," wrote Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossio on the X platform.

"The US is the aggressor. Cuba is the country under attack, acting in accordance with the principle of self-defence."

The Cuban Embassy in Washington and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Havana also reaffirmed Cuba’s right to self-defence on X. The embassy stated that, through pretexts and lies, the “logical preparation” for a possible attack was being portrayed as something extraordinary.

This statement followed a report on Sunday by the US news portal Axios on alleged preparations by the socialist-ruled island nation to deploy drones against US targets in an emergency. 

Axios reports, citing intelligence sources, that Cuba has acquired more than 300 military drones and has recently begun discussing plans to use them for attacks on the US base at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, on US military ships and possibly on Key West in the US state of Florida, which lies only around 170 kilometres from Havana. 

Axios cited a senior US official as saying the intelligence could serve as a potential "pretext for US military action" and reflected the extent to which the administration of President Donald Trump views Cuba as a threat. The official also pointed to the reported presence of Iranian military advisers in Havana as a factor.

Decades of tense relations

However, Axios also reports that US officials do not believe Cuba is actively planning to attack US interests. US intelligence information suggests that Cuban military representatives discussed plans for the use of drones in the event of hostilities.

Relations between the two countries have been strained since the 1959 revolution. Under Trump, they have deteriorated further. With a series of new sanctions and an oil embargo, Trump has increased the pressure to force economic and political change in Cuba in the interests of the US.

Photo: MIA archive