CUBAN President Miguel Diaz-Canel warned the United States not to demand his removal or regime change in Cuba on Thursday, in his first ever interview with a US network.

Asked on NBC’s Meet the Press if he would stand down “if it meant saving Cuba,” Mr Diaz-Canel asked if she had ever asked another president that question — and whether it was “a question from you, or from the State Department?”

Cuba’s leaders “are not elected by the US government and don’t have a mandate from the US government,” he said. “We are a free sovereign state.”

The US pursued a unilaterally hostile policy towards Cuba without provocation, he stressed, emphasising that it had “no moral [right] to demand anything from Cuba.”

And while Havana was happy to engage in talks with the US with no preconditions, he advised against “demanding changes [to] our political system — as we are not demanding change from the American system, about which we have a number of doubts.”

President Diaz-Canel’s defiant stance comes as the socialist island faces regular blackouts due to a US threat of tariffs on any country providing it with fuel. Its main oil suppliers, previously Mexico and Venezuela, have stopped deliveries in response, though Mexico has said it is looking to resume shipments. So far, just one Russian tanker has breached the oil blockade, though another is promised.

The US is also threatening countries with consequences if they do not expel Cuban doctors. The island’s medical missions provide essential healthcare in many rural areas and bring in vital hard currency, and countries including Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica and Guyana have bowed to US pressure and stopped the missions.