President Fidel Castro's government has expressed solidarity with a Canadian convicted in the United States of violating Washington's trade embargo by selling water-purification chemicals to Cuba.
Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, addressing 140,000 Cubans including Castro and other senior members of the ruling Communist Party on the outskirts of Havana, ridiculed the guilty verdict by a jury in federal court in Philadelphia on Wednesday against Canadian businessman James Sabzali.
"They have found him guilty in the United States, put him on trial, for selling Cuba resins to purify the water which goes to our schools and homes, and now he could face a sentence of up to 205 years in prison," Perez said in a speech.
"I don't know what sort of dangerous or strategic material this is. I don't know if you can maybe make a nuclear missile from it," Perez added sarcastically.
In a case likely to widen the dispute between Washington and Ottawa over ties with Cuba - Canada opposes the embargo and is one of Havana's major trade partners - Sabzali was convicted on 20 counts of violating the US Trading With the Enemy Act and one count of conspiracy.
The case has caused a public outcry in Canada, where political leaders accuse the United States of trying to undermine Canadian sovereignty.
Perez, in a litany of accusations against the U.S. government, also complained that Washington recently had denied entry visas to Cuban Finance Minister Manuel Millares and members of the state food-importing company Alimport.
"They fear the voice of Cuba reaching the United States," Perez said.