By Dave Sherwood
HAVANA, May 17 (Reuters) - Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez accused the U.S. on Sunday of fabricating a "fraudulent case" to justify economic sanctions and potential military intervention.
The minister's comments followed a report by Axios on Sunday, citing classified intelligence, which said Cuba had acquired more than 300 military drones.
"Cuba neither threatens nor desires war," Rodriguez said in a post on social media, adding the country "prepares itself to confront external
aggression in the exercise of the right to legitimate self-defense recognized by the UN Charter."
The report alleged that Havana had discussed plans to use the drones to attack the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, U.S. military vessels and Key West, Florida.
Rodriguez did not explicitly mention the drone allegations in his statement.
The intelligence, which could become a pretext for U.S. military action, shows the degree to which the Trump administration sees Cuba as a threat because of developments in drone warfare and the presence of Iranian military advisers in Havana, a senior U.S. official told the publication.
Reuters could not immediately verify the Axios report.
Tensions between the two nations are soaring.
U.S. Department of Justice sources told Reuters last week they planned to indict former Cuban leader Raul Castro on charges related to Cuba's 1996 shooting down of two planes operated by humanitarian group Brothers to the Rescue.
An indictment of the 94-year-old revolutionary icon would mark a major escalation in the pressure campaign against Cuba by the Trump administration, which has described the island's communist-run government as corrupt and incompetent as it pushes for change.
The U.S. has previously used criminal cases against foreign political figures to justify military actions, and Trump has threatened Cuba "is next" after his administration in January captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Cuban officials, including Raul Castro’s grandson, during an exceedingly rare high-level visit to the island on Thursday.
(Reporting by Ruchika Khanna in Bengaluru and Dave Sherwood in Havana; Editing by Mark Porter and Chris Reese)
