FILE PHOTO - Cuban First Secretary of Communist Party Raul Castro Ruz gives a speech, on January 01, 2019, during the celebration of 60th Anniversary of Cuban Revolution at Santa Ifigenia Cemetery in Santiago de Cuba. Yamil Lage/Pool via Reuters

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban Communist Party leader Raul Castro on Wednesday denounced what he called the United States’ renewed attempts to destroy the Cuban revolution and pressure Venezuela, adding that the island nation did not fear its threats.

“We will not renounce any of our principles and we reject all forms of blackmail, the increase of the economic war and the strengthening of the blockade,” Castro told the national assembly, which was meeting to enact a new constitution.