The president Donald Trump mentioned that the United States has 'great Cuban-Americans', while announcing a "new dawn for Cuba", after "70 years of waiting".
Trump delivered the most explicit words to date regarding a potential regime change on the island during the Turning Point USA Spring Summit, in front of an audience of approximately 5,000 attendees.
"Very soon, this great fortress will also bring a day that has been 70 years in the waiting. It is called a new dawn for Cuba," declared the leader, who added: "We are going to help them with Cuba. We have many great Cuban Americans."
Trump directly appealed to that community, describing them as people "brutally treated, whose families were murdered and brutalized," and concluded with a warning full of symbolism: "And now, look at what is happening."
Phoenix's speech is not an isolated event, but rather the latest link in a chain of increasingly direct presidential statements about Cuba.
On March 27, in Miami Beach, Trump said with a laugh: "Cuba is next but pretend I didn't say that".
According to pretend that he did not say that. Last Tuesday, he stated: "We may stop in Cuba after we finish this," referring to the conflict with Iran. And on March 16, he declared from the White House: "I believe I will have the honor of taking Cuba."
In parallel to the rhetoric, last Tuesday USA Today revealed, citing anonymous sources, that the Pentagon has accelerated the planning of a possible military operation in Cuba, although the head of Southern Command, General Francis Donovan, testified in March before Congress that there were no plans for actions to take the island.
In the diplomatic arena, officials from the Department of State met yesterday in Havana with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, known as "El Cangrejo" and the grandson of Raúl Castro, exploring a potential transition.
The Trump administration offered to install Starlink in Cuba in exchange for free elections, the release of political prisoners, and compensation for confiscated properties since 1959.
The Cuban regime has responded with rhetoric of resistance. Last Thursday, Díaz-Canel warned of a possible U.S. military aggression by invoking the anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion, and declared: "We are ready to fight".
Trump's appeal to Cuban Americans also has an evident political dimension: Miami-Dade County is home to approximately 1.2 million Cuban descendants, and 68% of likely Cuban American voters in that county expressed an intention to vote for Trump in 2024, according to the Cuba 2024 poll from Florida International University, the highest level ever recorded.
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