Overview
- Díaz-Canel, in an NBC News interview aired Thursday, said he will not step down from the presidency.
- He framed the demand as a sovereignty issue and said Cuban leaders are chosen by the people, not by the United States.
- Cuba and the United States have held only very preliminary conversations on easing tensions, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Josefina Vidal.
- Daily life in Cuba remains strained by fuel shortages, rolling blackouts, and scarcities of food and medicine that officials link to the U.S. embargo and lost oil supplies.
- Russia delivered a crude tanker in late March and pledged a second shipment, while President Donald Trump allowed the arrival but argued the oil would not change Cuba’s course.