The president Donald Trump stated this Friday that Cuba is next on his administration's agenda, before ironically asking the media to ignore his comments during a public event where he spoke about defending sovereign borders.
"But please act as if I didn't say that. Act as if I never said it. Please, please, please, media, kindly ignore that statement. Thank you very much. Cuba is next," said Trump at an event, before continuing his speech about the government shutdown by the Democrats.
"I built this great Army. I said I would never have to use it, but sometimes you have to do it. And Cuba is next, by the way, but pretend I didn't say that, please," he stated.
This Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was emphatic about the conditions for any agreement with Havana: "Its economy needs to change and it cannot change unless its system of government has to change. Who is going to invest billions of dollars in a communist country governed by incompetent communists? Therefore, its system of government has to change."
Rubio also warned that any information about the negotiations that does not come directly from him or the president should be disregarded: "Any report about Cuba that does not come from me or the president is false, because we are the only ones working on this."
The Secretary of State also linked economic freedom with politics: "Economic change is important. Giving people economic and political freedom is important. But they go hand in hand; they are interconnected."
A sustained escalation of pressure on the Cuban regime
Trump's statements this Friday are part of a sustained escalation of pressure on the Cuban regime that has intensified since the beginning of his second term.
On January 29, Trump signed an Executive Order declaring a national emergency due to threats from the Cuban government to the security of the United States and imposed tariffs on countries that supply oil to the island, worsening the already critical energy situation with blackouts of up to 15 hours a day.
In March, at the "Shield of the Americas" summit held in Doral, Florida, Trump stated that Cuba was "in its final moments of life as it was" and would have "a great new life."
Trump confirmed that Cuba was talking with Rubio and went further: "I believe that I will have the honor of taking Cuba. Taking Cuba. I mean, if I free it, I take it. I think I can do whatever I want with it."
The administration conditioned any agreement on the departure of Miguel Díaz-Canel from power, and Rubio denied reports suggesting that Washington would accept a transition that would leave the power of the Castro family intact.
Meanwhile, Díaz-Canel dismissed this Friday in an interview with the Mexican newspaper La Jornada any transformation of the Cuban political system, proposing a model that combines "centralized planning and market mechanisms" inspired by China and Vietnam.
The Cuban GDP has fallen by 23% since 2019 and an additional decline of 7.2% is projected for 2026, placing the regime in a position of extreme fragility that the Trump administration seeks to exploit to force a political change.
This Friday, Democratic congress members introduced bills to prohibit the use of federal funds for military actions against Cuba until December 31, 2026, although Trump had already explicitly ruled out direct military interventions, responding, "That’s not going to happen," to questions about operations on the island.
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