Cuban president accuses United States of 'criminal blockade' and stoking recent protests over food shortage and blackouts

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel slammed the United States government, accusing it of meddling in its country's affairs.

Díaz-Canel's stance was in response to the U.S. State Department, which the communist island accused Monday of backing hundreds of residents who rallied in the streets to protest food and electricity shortages.

The State Department fired back by labeling the accusations as 'absurd.'

Speaking to NBC News on the sideline of Havana's International Informatics Fair, the communist leader claimed the U.S. embargo, which dates back to 1958, is illogical.

'They're always looking for justifications and turning things around,' Díaz-Canel said. 'The most absurd thing is that they have applied a criminal blockade against us for more than 65 years. That is the absurdity.'

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel slammed the United States government in an interview with NBC News at the International Informatics Fair in Havana on Monday and accused it of imposing a 'criminal blockade against us for more than 65 years'

Cuban residents in the city of Bayamo protested Sunday over shortages of food and electricity

The Cuban leader, who was the First Secretary of the Communist Party and is the most powerful person in the government, blasted the United States for labeling it as a state sponsor of terrorism, along with Iran, Syria and North Korea.

'We are free, sovereign and independent, and we are going to continue building our revolution,' Díaz-Canel said. 'Despite the tightening of the blockade, despite the fact that we have been included on a spurious list that can only be invented by a government as genocidal and as hegemonic as the government of the United States.'

The United States sanction were imposed following the Cuban Revolution from 1953 to 1959.

'The revolution is very solid, and the Cuban people are very aware of what it means to lose the revolution,' Díaz-Canel said.

The Cuban government said five demonstrations were held Sunday and it warned residents about falling for the lies and exaggerations that were being spread on social media.

Protest over hours-long blackouts and food shortages stretched from the central province of Santiago de Cuba to the southwestern province of Granma

Protest over hours-long blackouts and food shortages stretched from the central province of Santiago de Cuba to the southwestern province of Granma - which are located near the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.

Demonstrators also expressed their discontent with the government by holding protests in Santa Marta, near the beach resort town of Varadero, and Los Mangos, a neighborhood in the city of Matanzas.

Opponents of the ruling communist government were seen on video marching through the streets in Bayamo, chanting 'freedom' and 'the people united will never be defeated.'

Sunday's protests, which are rare in Cuba, were the largest single night of confirmed demonstrations since October 2022 after residents were left without electricity for almost a week because of Hurricane Ian.

Cuba's state-run newscast early on Monday showed posts from social media - including some from U.S. members of Congress - about the demonstrations, and accused U.S.-based agitators of seeking to confuse the situation or stoke anger by suggesting government repression or more widespread protests than was actually the case.

A man pedals a bicylce carrying a girl during a scheduled power outage in Bauta, Cuba, on Monday

'They're always looking for justifications and turning things around,' Díaz-Canel said. 'The most absurd thing is that they have applied a criminal blockade against us for more than 65 years. That is the absurdity'

'Let me be quite unambiguous about this: The United States is not behind the protests in Cuba and the accusation of that is absurd. We are closely following these reports,' Vedant Patel, the State Department principal deputy spokesperson, said.  

"Protests across several cities in Cuba yesterday called for electricity, food and fundamental freedoms. I think that what we are seeing is reflection of the dire situation on the island," he added. "We urge the Cuban government to refrain from violence and unjust detentions and are calling on the authorities to respect the Cuban citizens' right to peaceful assembly.'

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel also pointed a finger at Washington.

'Mediocre politicians and networked terrorists lined up from South Florida to heat up the streets of #Cuba with interventionist messages and calls for chaos. They were left wanting,' Diaz-Canel said on X.