Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío rejects the possibility that Cuba could cede its mineral wealth to the United States, as Venezuela did with its oil.
14ymedio, Havana, September 26, 2026 – The Cuban Government now maintains that U.S. sanctions are preventing the economic reforms it is attempting to implement from succeeding, reforms intended to give greater space to the private sector and the market. Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío made the statement in an interview with Bloomberg This Weekend (Bloomberg) , in which he also rejected the possibility that Havana could offer Washington access to its mineral resources by following the path taken by Delcy Rodríguez’s Venezuela.
“If the United States reduces the pressure, those transformations in Cuba can advance significantly and become truly irreversible, which is our objective and, in theory, what the United States wants to happen,” the diplomat said in a conversation with journalist David Gura of Bloomberg.
De Cossío was referring to the package of 176 measures with which the Government intends to modify some of the pillars of an economy that has been in crisis for years, giving more space to the private sector, decentralizing some decisions, and expanding certain foreign-currency operations. The deputy foreign minister himself had admitted days earlier that Havana does not know what the outcome of those transformations will be. “We cannot know what the final outcome will be, but we must do something to change the current reality,” he said at the time.
“Cuba’s resources belong to the people,” he said. “Our Government has no right to deprive them of those resources and hand them over to another country”
On this occasion, however, he blamed Washington for making the process more difficult. According to De Cossío, the reforms cannot reach their full potential while the United States maintains what he described as a policy of “oppression and suffocation” against the Cuban population.
The deputy foreign minister also responded to Donald Trump, who this week described Cuba as a “failed state” during his address to the United Nations. “He said that Cuba is a totally failed state, but in the same sentence he says that the United States is exerting more pressure than ever. In other words, he acknowledges that U.S. pressure is the cause of the failure,” De Cossío replied.
One of the most significant moments of the interview came when Bloomberg asked the official about the possibility that Cuba could follow the Venezuelan model and offer the U.S. privileged access to its natural resources. De Cossío flatly ruled out a similar formula for Cuban deposits. “Cuba’s resources belong to the people,” he said. “Our Government has no right to deprive them of those resources and hand them over to another country.”
“Ally is too strong a word”
The statement comes at a particularly sensitive moment for Cuban mining. Canadian company Sherritt International suspended its direct participation in its nickel and cobalt joint ventures on the Island in May and is currently negotiating a recapitalization with U.S. firm Gillon Capital, which could end up controlling 55% of the company. The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals and to longstanding claims involving properties nationalized after 1959.
The diplomat also distanced himself from Venezuela, for decades Havana’s main political and energy partner. Asked by Bloomberg whether Cuba still considers the South American country an ally, he replied: “Ally is too strong a word.”
De Cossío also expressed misgivings about another apparently contradictory phenomenon: while Washington is tightening sanctions against the Cuban Government, U.S. shipments destined primarily for the Island’s emerging private sector have increased.
Havana, the deputy foreign minister said, welcomes those goods, although it considers their volume insufficient to meet demand. He then attributed a political intention to the trade. “It is evident that the United States seeks to create a situation of dependency,” he said. “We do not want to be dominated by any other country.”
The statements coincide with a notable increase in commercial traffic from U.S. ports to Cuba. Some 45 vessels have made more than 200 trips to the Island during 2026, carrying nearly 327,000 tons of goods through the end of August. Between January and July, U.S. exports to Cuba reached approximately $674 million, 61.8% more than during the same period in 2025.
“We want to reach a solution with the United States as soon as possible”
Despite the deterioration in relations, De Cossío said that Havana does not want to wait for a possible change in the U.S. political balance after the November midterm elections to alter policy toward the Island. Some Cubans, he acknowledged, hope that a Democratic victory in Congress will reduce pressure from the Trump Administration, but he described that possibility as an “illusion.”
“We cannot sit idly by,” he said. “We want to reach a solution with the United States as soon as possible. And what happens internally in the United States will not have a real impact on Cuba.”
Talks between the two governments are, according to the deputy foreign minister, virtually at a standstill. Even so, he ruled out the possibility that economic pressure alone could bring down the Cuban Government and advocated a negotiated way out.
“We would welcome a solution,” he said. And he acknowledged that such a formula could be “far from what we want, but less than what some people in the United States might expect.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
______________________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.