Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez voiced firm solidarity with Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Monday, denouncing what he described as renewed US interference in Latin America following a string of inflammatory remarks by US President Donald Trump.

Posting on the social platform X, Díaz-Canel said the nations of "Our America" stand with Petro and the Colombian people, rejecting Washington's attempts to revive old doctrines of control in the region. "We reject the interference and fallacies of the US Government that tries to reimpose the Monroe Doctrine in its relations with the sovereign nations of Latin America and the Caribbean," he wrote.

Querido Presidente @petrogustavo, los pueblos de Nuestra América están contigo y con #Colombia.

Rechazamos la injerencia y las falacias del Gobierno de EE.UU que intenta reimponer la Doctrina Monroe en sus relaciones con las naciones soberanas de América Latina y el Caribe. pic.twitter.com/SpH9vXTyKi

— Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) October 20, 2025

Cuba's Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, also expressed Havana's support for the Colombian president. Writing on X, he warned that "the statements of the US government constitute a threat to Colombian sovereignty and seek to interfere in the internal affairs of that sister nation."

Frente a la nueva arremetida imperialista, expresamos nuestro apoyo y solidaridad con el Presidente @petrogustavo y con #Colombia.

Declaraciones del Gobierno de #EEUU constituyen amenaza a la soberanía colombiana y buscan interferir en los asuntos internos de esa hermana nación. pic.twitter.com/k0n8WpeidG

— Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) October 20, 2025

Unlawful sea strikes

The exchange occurs against a backdrop of escalating US military and diplomatic pressure in the Caribbean and northern Latin America. The Trump administration has conducted multiple military strikes on vessels in the Caribbean Sea, targeting what it claims are "narco-terrorist" drug-trafficking boats operating out of Venezuela (and possibly linked to operations near Colombia), yet the US has so far provided no publicly verified evidence of narcotics on board or of any threat posed by the vessels.

Between September and October 2025, US forces struck at least six to seven vessels, with dozens of fatalities. One strike left survivors who were sent back to Colombia and Ecuador without formal US detention, raising further questions about legal process and justification.

Legal analysts argue that these operations stretch international law: lethal force cannot be used against suspected drug-traffickers across sovereign waters under the conventional law-enforcement model without flag-state consent or evidence of imminent armed threat. 

At the same time, Petro’s broader foreign-policy stances have deepened the tensions: he has been openly critical of "Israel's" conduct in Gaza and has broken diplomatic ties with the entity, which some analysts say adds an ideological dimension to his friction with Washington.

Read more: US seeks to turn Caribbean into war zone amid Venezuela threats: Cuba

Meanwhile, President Petro has challenged the US narrative, suggesting that at least one boat struck in September was a Colombian fisherman’s vessel and not a drug operations ship, and has accused Washington of infringing on Colombian sovereignty. 

In a social media post, Petro refuted Trump’s narcotics allegations, accusing the US president of spreading falsehoods and showing contempt toward Colombia. "Mr. Trump, Colombia has never been rude to the United States, on the contrary, it has loved its culture very much. But you are rude and ignorant with Colombia. Read, as if he did, his chargé d'affaires in Colombia, One Hundred Years of Solitude, and assured him that he will learn something from solitude," Petro wrote.

Señor Trump, jamás Colombia ha sido grosera con EEUU, al contrario, ha querido mucho su cultura.

Pero usted es grosero e ignorante con Colombia. Léase, como si lo hizo, su encargado de negocios en Colombia, Cien Años de Soledad, y le aseguró que algo aprenderá de la soledad.

Yo…

— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) October 19, 2025

Cuba's show of support follows similar mobilizations in defense of Venezuela earlier this year, when Havana organized nationwide rallies and collected millions of signatures in solidarity. Now, its message to Washington is clear: Latin America's leaders will not tolerate external interference in the affairs of sovereign nations.