Cuban Ambassador to Kenya Ines Fors Fernandez now says Havana is determined to defend its sovereignty and independence despite escalating threats from the United States.

It has emerged that US President Donald Trump is actively seeking regime change in the Caribbean island nation.

Trump and his Secretary of State Marco Rubio have made clear the collapse of Cuba’s communist government is not only a likely side benefit of embattled Nicolas Maduro’s ouster but a goal, with the Trump administration holding meetings with Cuban exiles and civic groups in Miami and Washington to identify government officials in Havana willing to cut a deal.

“We are determined to defend our principles, we are determined to defend our values,” said Ambassador Fernandez on Spice FM on Thursday, January 22.

“Perhaps a lot of people will die defending those principles, those values. But that’s the way we are,” she added.

Trump claimed a lot of Cubans were killed in the US raid on Caracas, adding that an American military intervention in Cuba was unnecessary because the island appears ready to fall on its own.

 “Cuba is ready to fall. Cuba now has no income. They got all of their income from Venezuela, from Venezuelan oil. They’re not getting any of it. Cuba literally is ready to fall,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on Monday his administration is not in talks with the US government. He said the country remains defiant after Trump threatened the Caribbean island in the wake of the US attack on Venezuela.

Diaz-Canel posted on X that for relations between the US and Cuba to progress, they must be based on international law rather than hostility, threats and economic coercion.

Fernandez said for more than 100 years, ties between Cuba and the United States have been marked on one hand by US attempts to dominate and on the other by Cuba’s determination to remain free, independent and sovereign.

“It has a cost,” said Fernandez, adding, “For more than 60 years, Cuba has faced an economic, commercial, and financial blockade, including sabotage to our economy, attempts to assassinate Cuban leaders, and even biological wars against Cuba.”

The ambassador’s remarks came as Trump demanded on his Truth Social platform that Cuba make “a deal, before it is too late,” declaring there will be “no more oil or money going to Cuba” following the US military operation that killed 32 Cuban officers guarding Maduro.

Benedict Wachira, secretary of the Kenya Cuba Friendship Society, opined that sanctions have never been effective anywhere in the world, whether in Iran, Venezuela, or Zimbabwe.

“The United Nations (UN) is toothless when it comes to confronting world powers, particularly the US,” said Wachira, saying, “The US operates above the UN, which is why there must be reforms in the UN system. The US acts as a global bully.”

Wachira argued that countries must develop independent economies outside dependency on aid and grants.  He noted that the moment nations allow the US to interfere with the independent decisions of different countries, they are questioning the role of sovereignty.

Kenya backed the African Union (AU) statement expressing grave concerns about the capture of Maduro, stressing territorial integrity and self-determination.

The AU reaffirmed its commitment to principles of international law, including respect for the sovereignty of states, territorial integrity and the right of peoples to self-determination.

Kenya and Cuba are finalising an environmental cooperation memorandum of understanding (MOU) by March 2026, focusing on biodiversity conservation, pollution control, environmental monitoring, ecosystem management, and scientific exchange.

The two nations established diplomatic relations in 1995 and have cooperation agreements in health, education, and sports.