Cuba warns of 'bloodbath' amid US sanctions and drone reports

Cuba’s leader warned on Monday of a “bloodbath” in the event of an American attack, while the US Treasury sanctioned Cuba’s main intelligence agency and top leaders as tensions spiked between the arch-foes.

President Miguel Diaz-Canel stressed Cuba’s right to defend itself a day after US news site Axios reported that Havana had obtained over 300 military drones from Russia and Iran and is considering using them against US targets.

The report, which quoted US intelligence officials, came amid growing speculation that the United States is weighing military action to topple Cuba’s communist government.

Axios quoted unnamed US officials as saying that Havana was considering drone strikes on the US base at Guantanamo Bay in eastern Cuba, on US military vessels and possibly even Florida.

Writing on social media, Diaz-Canel repeated that Cuba “poses no threat” to the United States or any other country and warned that a US attack would “trigger a bloodbath with incalculable consequences”.

He did not directly address Cuba’s alleged stockpiling of attack drones but said the island had “the absolute and legitimate right to defend itself against a military onslaught”.