AMNA NAWAZ: Cuba received a tranche of humanitarian aid from China this week, as people there experienced severe hunger due to food shortages and economic crisis, this as the Trump administration maintains that the island poses a threat to the U.S., but says dialogue remains open.

MARCO RUBIO, U.S.

Secretary of State: So, we will be talking to them.

We will be working on it.

We want something good for the Cuban people.

Having a failed state 90 miles from our shores is a threat to the national security of the United States.

AMNA NAWAZ: Earlier today, I spoke with Cuba's deputy foreign minister.

And in this exclusive interview, we discussed the dire situation there and what she says is Cuba's right to defend itself.

Deputy Foreign Minister Josefina Vidal Ferreiro, welcome to the "News Hour."

Thank you so much for joining us.

JOSEFINA VIDAL FERREIRO, Cuban Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister: It's my pleasure to be with you today.

AMNA NAWAZ: You have said several times dialogue is key here.

Dialogue is what can bring our countries, the U.S.

and Cuba, together.

Can you tell us, is there any dialogue going on right now between U.S.

and Cuban officials?

When's the last time the two sides spoke?

JOSEFINA VIDAL FERREIRO: The channel for dialogue is open.

We have always favored dialogue with the United States and with any other country, because we see it as the only way for countries to discuss their differences and to look for a way to make progress in the bilateral relationship.

And we have reasons to have doubts about the seriousness of the United States' side, considering that, in the midst of our conversations, our contacts, the United States has continued to take measures, measures that affect Cuba and the Cuban people in a big way.

AMNA NAWAZ: I want to ask you more about that impact in a moment, but when you say the channel is open, does that mean that you are currently involved in negotiations with the U.S.

government?

And are you yourself involved?

JOSEFINA VIDAL FERREIRO: We have always handled these conversations historically, normally, in a discreet way, because we feel that it is important to create conditions for both countries to discuss openly.

But I can reiterate that the channel is open.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the meantime, we have seen the U.S.

government continue to ratchet up economic pressure.

We should note that Cubans are no strangers to power outages before the blockade, but now we're seeing reports of hourslong power outages most of the day, massive food shortages.

Can you help us understand here, how dire is the situation on the ground in Cuba right now?

JOSEFINA VIDAL FERREIRO: Imagine a country not receiving in five months one drop of oil.

We have had to postpone, for example, surgeries.

That has had an impact, the oil blockade on electricity generation.

And, as a consequence, that has an impact on health services, on education, on water supply.

The whole Cuban population is under a lot of pressure.

And there is no justification for this collective punishment.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, let me just put to you the argument we have heard from the Trump administration, which, as I'm sure you have seen in reports, the U.S.

has now said that Cuba poses a national security threat to the United States.

They claim Cuba is acting as a sanctuary for U.S.

adversaries just 90 miles away from the U.S.

border.

What do you say to all those allegations?

JOSEFINA VIDAL FERREIRO: The United States government is not telling the truth.

So the United States agencies know very well that Cuba is not and has never been a threat to the United States.

On the contrary, we consider that the United States has always been an existential threat for Cuba.

So this is not the truth.

Cuba is not a threat to the United States, has never been a threat to the United States.

There are no foreign military bases.

The only foreign military bases which still exist in Cuba is the U.S.

Naval Guantanamo base, against the will of the Cuban government and the Cuban people.

AMNA NAWAZ: If I may just clarify, Madam Minister, the U.S.

isn't alleging there are military bases.

They're saying they're intelligence operations, essentially listening posts, personnel from China and Russia who are positioned there to use Cuba as a base to listen from.

Are you saying that's not true?

JOSEFINA VIDAL FERREIRO: No operations by anybody who might be a threat to the United States from the territory of Cuba.

This is the case now.

This has always been the case.

AMNA NAWAZ: Did the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, when he visited Havana recently, did he present any evidence to support these allegations?

JOSEFINA VIDAL FERREIRO: I am not going to speak about such a visit.

AMNA NAWAZ: Can you say if the U.S.

has tried to present any evidence to Cuban officials to back up these claims?

JOSEFINA VIDAL FERREIRO: The United States has never presented any evidence officially to Cuba that might demonstrate or show that Cuba might be a threat to the United States.

This is a construction.

This is a pretext that is being used in order to justify the escalation that doesn't have any justification at all in order to continue punishing the Cuban people and Cuba.

AMNA NAWAZ: You have heard President Trump has repeatedly said he can do anything he wants in Cuba, that he can take Cuba in some form.

You have seen an increase in U.S.

surveillance flights around Cuba.

We have -- U.S.

has positioned an aircraft carrier nearby in the Caribbean.

What are you preparing for?

What kind of action are you anticipating if there will be some U.S.

military action?

JOSEFINA VIDAL FERREIRO: We are taking very, very seriously threats coming from the United States.

And we have always been ready to defend our country, unfortunately so.

When you see -- when you look at the history between Cuba and the United States, confrontation, hostility has been a permanent characteristic of this relationship.

Self-defense has always been a priority, considering a confrontation that has prevailed in our relationship.

It would be naive for us not to be ready in order to defend ourselves in case there is an aggression from the United States to Cuba.

AMNA NAWAZ: And what does that defense potentially look like?

JOSEFINA VIDAL FERREIRO: Well, we don't seek conflict with the United States.

We hope it is prevented, because we don't see any reason why Cubans and Americans should die, because there would be thousands of deaths if there is an aggression and there will be a lot of destruction.

AMNA NAWAZ: When you say Americans shouldn't die as well, what is it that Cuba is prepared to do?

I mean, President Diaz-Canel has said that Cuba will respond if there is U.S.

military action.

He said: "We will defend ourselves.

If we need to die.

Will die."

Is Cuba prepared to strike U.S.

targets if there is U.S.

military action?

JOSEFINA VIDAL FERREIRO: Cuba will defend itself.

The American people, who are about to celebrate in a little bit more than a month 250th anniversary of its independence, will perfectly understand why Cubans are determined to defend our independence and not to have any foreign power to tell us what to do and how to do it, the same feeling you have for your independence that Cubans have for our independence.

And we are determined to defend it.

AMNA NAWAZ: May I ask you about the role of the U.S.

secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who we know has been leading many of the U.S.

efforts in the dialogue and elsewhere?

As you know, he is the son of Cubans, parents who left Cuba before Fidel Castro took power.

He's also long called for regime change.

What role do you think Secretary Rubio is playing in the economic and pressure campaign from the U.S.

right now?

JOSEFINA VIDAL FERREIRO: What I can say is that Secretary of State Marco Rubio does not know Cuba.

He has never been to Cuba.

He doesn't understand Cuba.

It seems that he is not familiar with Cuba's history.

So the message that he sends, which is a very clear message of the United States wanting to dictate on Cubans what kind of political system or model or order we should have, it reflects very clearly that he doesn't know us and he doesn't understand our history and how proud we are of our independence and our determination to defend it.

AMNA NAWAZ: President Trump has said he's dealing with people inside Cuba and there's been conversations about the potential for regime change.

So what do you say to those reports and to this idea that, in a dialogue, a leadership change could help to bring relief for the Cuban people?

JOSEFINA VIDAL FERREIRO: We are ready to discuss about everything, with one exception, which is issues related to our domestic affairs, internal order.

It's up to the Cuban people, and only to the Cuban people, to decide what we do and what decisions we make regarding our internal and constitutional order.

It's not a matter for another foreign power to decide for us how we should organize ourselves.

So this is the main message.

Apart from that, we are ready to discuss with the United States about every other issue in order to look for ways in which we can coexist and we can cooperate.

AMNA NAWAZ: Madam Minister, in Cuba, though, in a one-party system, where there's no other political parties, political pluralism is outlawed, there's no independent media, how can you be sure that this is what the Cuban people actually want?

JOSEFINA VIDAL FERREIRO: To win just a referendum just a few years ago, all the Cuban population older than 18 years old was free to decide the kind of order.

We had a referendum for the new Constitution, and the majority of the Cuban people supported that.

So this is the fact.

AMNA NAWAZ: Look ahead for me for the next two days or so, Madam Minister.

Where do you expect things to be over the next 24 to 48 hours when it comes to U.S.

relations?

JOSEFINA VIDAL FERREIRO: I think this is a question that has to be asked to the United States government.

I don't want to speculate at all.

As I said, Cuba is a peaceful country.

Cuba is a country of solidarity.

Cuba is a good neighbor, has always been a good neighbor.

Regarding what kind of policy or attitude, position the United States would adopt towards Cuba, it's a question that has to be asked to the United States government.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, we thank you so much for making the time to speak with us today, Madam Minister.

That's the deputy foreign minister of Cuba, Josefina Vidal.

Thank you for your time.

JOSEFINA VIDAL FERREIRO: It was good to talk to you.

Thank you.