Cuban-American Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart stated that President Donald Trump "is not willing to accept a regime 90 miles away" and warned that the United States has a military presence in the Caribbean following Nicolás Maduro's capture in Venezuela.
In statements made to journalist Mario J. Pentón, Díaz-Balart asserted that he maintains “daily contact” with the Trump administration and that new pressure measures against the Cuban regime are being evaluated. “We are satisfied with many of the measures that have been taken, but we believe that there are other actions that can be implemented. There are some things the Department of the Treasury can do, there are other things the Department of Justice can do, and there are many measures that can be taken,” he said.
The legislator emphasized that the goal of these actions is “for the Cuban people to finally reclaim their freedom, their sovereignty, and therefore, also their prosperity.” He added that President Trump “is not willing to accept this regime 90 miles away” and highlighted the presence of U.S. military forces in the region: “Today, there is a U.S. military force around the Caribbean that we have never seen before. That same military force that helped take Maduro down is still there, and we are seeing that they are not only around Venezuela, but throughout the Caribbean and this hemisphere. Why? Because President Trump is not willing to accept a regime 90 miles away that is causing so much harm to its own people and also to the national security of the United States.”
Díaz-Balart's statements come a day after he and Congressman Carlos Giménez announced in Miami that they will formally request President Trump to completely suspend flights and remittances to Cuba, as part of a strategy to intensify economic pressure on the regime, according to reports during a conference at the headquarters of the Cuban Democratic Directorate. Both legislators argued that these measures are necessary to "economically strangle" the Cuban government, which they described as "a cancer in our hemisphere."
During that meeting, Republican congressman Carlos Giménez announced that he would request the Mexican government, led by Claudia Sheinbaum, to put a stop to the oil shipments to the island, while congresswoman María Elvira Salazar publicly supported the initiative and urged the Cuban exile community to "stop giving oxygen to the dictatorship."
The interview with Pentón also coincided with the recent national emergency declaration signed by Trump, which labeled the Cuban government as “an unusual and extraordinary threat” to the security and foreign policy of the United States. The executive order allows for tariffs to be imposed on countries that supply oil to the island and empowers the State Department and the Department of Commerce to impose sanctions.
After signing the document, Díaz-Balart praised the U.S. president through his account on X, where he wrote: “Thankful to President @realDonaldTrump for another crucial step in strengthening U.S. national security and helping to free the Western Hemisphere from this terrorist regime. This is what America First leadership looks like: The Donroe Doctrine. Donald Trump will be the liberator of the Western Hemisphere."
Hours earlier, the congressman had stated that “we have never been closer to the freedom of Cuba” and reiterated that he will not stop working “until it is achieved,” during a meeting with Cuban exile organizations in Miami.
The statements from the Cuban-American legislator reinforce Washington's hardline stance toward Havana under the current Trump administration, which has pledged not to tolerate "a dictatorship 90 miles" from the United States.
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