President Donald Trump stated yesterday that Cuba is next on his administration's agenda during his speech at the FII Priority Summit held at the Faena Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida.
The statement, captured on video and shared by the media Sputnik, was emphatic: "I built this great Army. I said I would never have to use it, but sometimes you have to. And Cuba is next, by the way, but pretend I didn’t say that, please."
Trump immediately added, with an ironic tone: "Act like I didn't say that, please. Please, please, please, media, please ignore that statement. Thank you very much. Cuba is next."
The FII Priority Miami 2026 event, held from March 25 to 27 under the theme "Capital in Motion," gathered over 1,500 participants, including business leaders, investors, and global policymakers, with support from the Saudi sovereign fund.
Trump's statements come amid a sustained escalation of pressure on the Cuban regime since the beginning of his second term.
On the same day, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was categoric about the conditions of any agreement with Havana: "Their economy needs to change and it cannot change unless their system of government changes. Who is going to invest billions of dollars in a communist country governed by incompetent communists? Therefore, their system of government must change."
Rubio also warned that "any report about Cuba that does not come from me or the president is a lie, because we are the only ones working on this", referring to ongoing negotiations between Washington and Havana.
The journalist Daugherty accompanied the video with the comment: "Marco Rubio is negotiating behind the scenes."
Trump's words are not the first of this kind. On March 16, he told reporters, "I believe that I will have the honor of taking Cuba. Taking Cuba. I mean, if I liberate it, I take it. I think I can do whatever I want with it."
However, before he explicitly ruled out direct military actions, responding "That is not going to happen" to questions about operations on the island.
The context in which these statements are made is devastating for the Cuban people.
The capture of Nicolás Maduro on January 3 during the "Operation Absolute Resolution" cut the supply of between 25,000 and 35,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan oil to the island. Mexico also suspended fuel shipments on January 9 due to American pressure.
Cuba is experiencing blackouts of up to 20 and 30 hours daily, with a power generation deficit exceeding 2,000 MW. The Cuban GDP has fallen by 23% since 2019 and an additional contraction of 7.2% is projected for 2026. 80% of Cubans believe the current crisis is worse than the Special Period of the 1990s.
In light of this situation, Díaz-Canel dismissed yesterday in an interview with the Mexican newspaper La Jornada any transformation of the political system, stating that his position is "non-negotiable" and that he proposed a model featuring "centralized planning and market mechanisms" inspired by China and Vietnam.
On that same day, the Democratic Congress members Gregory Meeks and Pramila Jayapal introduced the "Act to Prevent an Unconstitutional War in Cuba" aimed at blocking the use of federal funds for military actions against the island until December 31, 2026.
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