The Republican senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of Trump, asserted this Sunday that the liberation of Cuba is near while holding up a cap with the phrase “Cuba libre.”
" I was in Miami. Do you see this cap? Free Cuba! Stay tuned!" Graham said in an interview with Fox News.
Next, Graham showed a cap with the phrase "Make Iran Great Again" and stated that the Trump Administration is eliminating the bad guys around the world.
"This is Ronald Reagan Plus, Donald Trump is rebooting the world," he added.
This is the second time in recent days that Graham has referred to a regime change on the island.
Last Sunday, Graham stated that the Cuban regime has its days numbered.
"Cuba is next. This communist dictatorship in Cuba has its days numbered," Graham also said in an interview with Fox News.
The Republican, one of Trump's closest allies in the Senate, also compared the president to Ronald Reagan on that occasion, stating that Trump will finish the work that Reagan was unable to complete.
"We have the opportunity not only to take down the mothership of terrorism, Iran. We also have the chance to eliminate one of the most lethal allies in the Middle East, Hezbollah," Graham said, referring to the U.S. attack on Iran that eliminated the highest-ranking officials of the Islamic Republic, including Ayatollah Khamenei.
"Mr. President, do it. And do it now. They are weak. We can eliminate them, and we must do it," he added.
In January, the senator from South Carolina wrote on X: “My advice to the communists who govern Cuba and oppress their people: call Maduro and ask him what to do... If you can get in touch, of course. If I were you, I would be looking for a new place to live.”
Cubastroika in progress
The political context supports the senator's rhetoric. On January 29, Trump signed a executive order declaring a national emergency on the grounds that Cuba poses an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to the national security of the United States.
The order authorizes the detention and inspection of ships heading to the island and establishes tariffs for countries that supply oil, effectively cutting off the Venezuelan flow of between 27,000 and 35,000 barrels a day, which was the main energy source for the regime.
This plan, known as 'Cubastroika', aims to collapse the regime through energy suffocation and financial pressure before the end of 2026.
Mike Hammer, the head of the United States Mission in Cuba, summarized it in a meeting with General Frank Donovan of Southern Command: “The dictatorship is going to end.”
Trump himself reinforced that message on Saturday at the Americas Shield Summit, where he stated that the Cuban regime will fall and is in its “final moments.”
The executive order from January also notes that Cuba hosts the largest Russian intelligence base outside of Russia and maintains active military cooperation with China, elements that the Trump administration uses to justify maximum pressure on the regime of Miguel Díaz-Canel.
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