The president Donald Trump labeled Cuba a “failed nation” this Tuesday and warned that he will speak about the island “at the right time,” in response to a direct question from Colombian journalist Juan Camilo Merlano, correspondent in Washington for Noticias Caracol and Blu Radio, who asked if the Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel “has his days numbered.”
"They are not doing well. Cuba is not doing well. It is a failed nation. And we will be talking about Cuba at the right time," Trump responded to the press, just hours before departing for China on a planned state visit in the coming days.
The statement came on the same day Trump posted a similar message on his social media platform, Truth Social: "No Republican has ever talked to me about Cuba, which is a failed country and only going in one direction: downwards! Cuba is asking for help, and we are going to talk! In the meantime, I'm heading to China!"
The message has multiple geopolitical dimensions. China requested Washington on May 5 to lift sanctions against Cuba, just before Trump's trip to Beijing, making the president's words a gesture aimed simultaneously at the American public, the Cuban regime, and President Xi Jinping.
The statements are set within a sustained escalation of maximum pressure against Havana. Trump signed Executive Order 14380 on January 29, declaring the Cuban regime an "extraordinary threat" to national security, and Executive Order 14404 on May 1, expanding the sanctions.
The administration has accumulated more than 240 new sanctions and intercepted at least seven tankers heading to the island.
The outcome for the Cuban economy has been devastating. Energy imports have decreased by between 80% and 90%, blackouts are affecting more than 55% of the territory with interruptions of up to 25 hours daily, and the projected economic contraction for 2026 is 7.2%, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit.
On May 7th, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced new sanctions against GAESA, the military conglomerate that controls between 40% and 70% of the formal Cuban economy, along with 12 officials, seven military entities, and three vessels.
Rubio also offered 100 million dollars in humanitarian aid contingent upon the regime’s approval, and warned: "Things are going to change."
In parallel to the pressure, Trump has kept the door open to negotiations. On February 1, he confirmed "high-level" conversations with Cuba from Mar-a-Lago and stated, "I believe we will make a deal."
In March, The New York Times reported that the White House conditioned any progress on the departure of Díaz-Canel, although Rubio denied that version, calling it "fake news."
The regime, for its part, has rejected any possibility of yielding. On May 4, the Cuban ambassador to the UN stated on Fox News: “Surrender is not in our dictionary”.
On that same day, Trump described Cuba as "completely devastated" in an interview and stated that "it would be an honor to liberate it," although he conditioned any concrete action on the end of military operations in Iran: "Maybe, after dealing with Iran, something could be done afterwards, one after another."
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