Cuba insists it is a US ally, not threat, in war on drugs

The director of Cuba's anti-drug board, Juan Carlos Poey, attends a press conference of Cuba's Justice Minister Rosabel Gamon Verde (out of frame) in Havana, Tuesday. Cuba "is not a threat" to the United States, as President Donald Trump claims, but rather "a barrier" against drugs sent from South America to that country, Colonel Juan Carlos Poey said on Tuesday. AFP-Yonhap

HAVANA — Cuba on Tuesday portrayed itself as an ally in President Donald Trump's war on drug trafficking and warned that a U.S. energy blockade is sapping Havana's efforts to help in this drive.

Trump has accused the communist government in Cuba of enabling drug trafficking through its support of Venezuela. U.S. commandos ousted and captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro on January 3 and Trump is now trying to starve Cuba of oil as it ups pressure on Havana.

"We insist that Cuba is not a threat to the United States," said Colonel Juan Carlos Poey, head of the anti-narcotics department at the Interior Ministry.

He said the U.S. energy blockade — Trump has halted Venezuelan shipments of oil to Cuba and threatened sanctions against any country that makes such deliveries — is hurting Cuba's efforts to fight regional drug trafficking.

Poey described Cuba as a "containing wall in the sea" to counter shipments of cocaine from South America to the United States.

Source: Korea Times News