In a series of responses to international media published this week, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel explicitly outlined Havana’s political and geostrategic orientation in the face of the main global challenges of 2026. His statements reaffirmed longstanding principles of Cuban foreign policy, articulated positions on regional conflicts, and offered a renewed interpretation of Cuba’s role in the international arena.
Díaz-Canel framed Cuban foreign policy around an axis of active multilateralism, defense of national sovereignty, and support for self-determination processes, combined with sustained criticism of foreign interventions that he described as violations of international law. In this context, he referred to multiple theaters of tension—from the Middle East to Latin America—and underscored the need to reposition Cuba as an interlocutor in global dialogue spaces, without automatic alignment with traditional blocs.
The president structured his remarks around three central pillars: the reaffirmation of sovereignty as a non-negotiable principle, criticism of what he termed “interventionist hegemonies,” and a commitment to a diplomacy that prioritizes international legal frameworks over the particular interests of major powers. This rhetorical combination merges classic elements of Cuban foreign policy discourse—rooted in the legacy of Fidel and Raúl Castro—with adaptations to the current geopolitical landscape, marked by multiple conflict fronts and a reconfiguration of global alliances.
Addressing the crisis in the Middle East, Díaz-Canel reiterated Cuba’s condemnation of military operations that, in his assessment, have caused massive civilian suffering. He emphasized the importance of United Nations resolutions as benchmarks of legitimacy and criticized unilateral policies by the United States and other powers that, in his view, have undermined international humanitarian law. This position aligns with recent statements by Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which consistently stress the primacy of the UN Charter and the peaceful settlement of disputes.
At the regional level, the Cuban president devoted significant attention to Latin American integration, arguing that cooperation processes must be built on equality, complementarity, and mutual respect. He explicitly criticized the conditionalities imposed by multilateral institutions dominated by countries from the global economic “center,” contending that such policies have deepened structural inequalities across the region.
Díaz-Canel’s discourse also included concrete references to Cuba’s role in international organizations—such as the United Nations General Assembly and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)—as arenas where, in his view, it is possible to advance an agenda that transcends bloc logic and upholds principles of independence, non-interference, and social justice.
From the standpoint of practical foreign policy, the president’s public remarks carry several implications. First, they reaffirm continuity in a diplomatic line that, while critical of the prevailing order, seeks to avoid open ruptures with key global actors, favoring dialogue over confrontation. Second, they position Cuba as an actor seeking to leverage its own political history to engage contemporary debates without adopting uncritical or subordinate stances toward any major power. Third, the discourse suggests a Cuban reading of global conflicts not as isolated episodes, but as part of a broader struggle over respect for international law and the distribution of power in the international system.
This positioning emerges at a time when tensions among major powers, disputes over sovereignty, and transnational humanitarian crises—from Africa to the Middle East and the Caribbean—are reshaping traditional alliance maps. Cuba, through this discourse, seeks to project itself not as a peripheral actor, but as an interlocutor whose historical experience grants it legitimacy to claim spaces of mediation and critique of the status quo.
In sum, Díaz-Canel’s responses to the media present a Cuba that calls for coherence between principles and diplomatic practice, aims to relaunch its international presence, and asserts an active voice in the defense of international law and the sovereignty of peoples. This stance, while deeply rooted in historical tradition, is being recalibrated in response to the expectations and tensions of the contemporary global order.