Cuba as national security threat to US ‘entirely farcical’, says Gonsalves

ST VINCENT AND THE Grenadines’ Opposition Leader, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has characterized Washington’s framing of Cuba as a national security threat as “entirely farcical”, and urged an immediate shift toward diplomatic normalization. He addressed community leaders, diplomats, and international delegates at a forum held in Washington, which was titled: “Resolving the U.S. Provoked Crisis in Cuba: Normalizing Relations with Our Neighbour”.

At the national forum on September 16, 2026 convened by the Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW), and the Pan-African Unity Dialogue (PAUD), Gonsalves delivered a robust keynote address dismantling the rationale behind the decades-long United States blockade against Cuba.

He argued against long-standing U.S. policy declarations that claim the Cuban Revolution is an emergency threat to America’s national security. Pointing to the stark demographic and economic asymmetry between the two nations, the former prime minister noted that Cuba, a country of under 11 million people with a GDP of roughly US$200 billion poses no material nor technological threat to a superpower of 350 million citizens with a US$30 trillion economy and global military reach.

He further argued that current U.S. posture represents a modern resurrection of the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, updated with what he termed a “Trump corollary”. In explaining this framework, Gonsalves asserted it is an imperial policy demanding that all sovereign nations and peoples in the Western Hemisphere submit to U.S. hegemony.

Drawing on his near 25 years as prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG),and extensive direct engagements with Cuban leadership, Gonsalves presented a concrete four-point international action plan to resolve the ongoing crisis.

This plan would involve the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), and the UN Secretary-General backed by UN the Security Council, that would actively broker a structured resolution to end the dangerous stand-off.

He noted that the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives must press the executive branch to institute a formal framework for mature, unconditional dialogue with Cuba, and civil society movements and nations across Africa, Asia (including China), and Latin America.

Gonsalves urged the American public to move past historical anxieties and regional domination.

“The American people have to understand that you have to let go those things so that we can have peace and justice and shared prosperity,” Gonsalves declared.

He argued that contemporary U.S. policy remains trapped by domestic political considerations. Following early waves of political migration to South Florida, he added that U.S. foreign policy toward Cuba effectively became a “prisoner of congressional and presidential politics of South Florida” where Florida’s decisive Electoral College votes repeatedly dictated national policy outcomes.

Gonsalves recalled telling American officials that Caribbean nations cannot accept a foreign policy dictated by U.S. domestic electoral calculations, emphasizing that Cuba is an integral part of the Caribbean civilization with unbreakable regional ties.

Highlighting the artificial nature of the impasse, Gonsalves cited a historical 1964 message sent by late Cuban President Fidel Castro, to then newly elected U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. In that communication, Castro affirmed that “hostility between Cuba and the United States is both unnatural and unnecessary and it can be eliminated,” expressing readiness to negotiate all differences under mutual respect.

Gonsalves emphasized that this willingness for open dialogue without preconditions has remained constant across successive Cuban administrations, including under Army General Raúl Castro and current President Miguel Díaz-Canel.

Characterizing the conflict as unnatural, Gonsalves highlighted that the two nations are neighbours separated by only 90 miles, sharing core Western civilizational traits, common linguistic roots, Judeo-Christian traditions, and a shared passion for sports like baseball.

While the Obama administration initiated a brief diplomatic thaw which received broad public support, he pointed out that hardline opposition led by U.S. Senators Bob Menendez, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz sought to stall progress. The subsequent Trump administration aggressively reversed those gains, re-listing Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism and deepening financial sanctions and measures that largely persisted under the Biden administration.