U.S. FAILED STATE, NOT US, CUBAN LEADER RETORTS

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on Friday the U.S., not Cuba, was a failed state, reacting to comments made Thursday by President Biden after unprecedented protests on the island.

Biden called the Communist-run country a “failed state” that is “repressing their citizens,” dashing hopes he could lift crippling sanctions that have contributed to an economic crisis in Cuba. Analysts say the protests have complicated his political leeway to do so.

“A failed state is that which, to please a reactionary and blackmailing minority, is capable of doing damage to 11 million humans,” Diaz-Canel wrote on Twitter.

Cuban officials and many analysts charge that U.S. policy on Cuba is driven by the anti-Communist Cuban-American community that has a strong influence on the swing state of Florida, not the interests of the Cuban people.

Havana has accused the U.S. of being behind Sunday's protests — a rare occurrence where public dissent is restricted — by financing counter-revolutionaries to foment unrest.