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The former Argentine ambassador Diego Guelar described Cuba on Tuesday as "a monument to failure" and dismissed any justification for military action by the United States regarding the island, in an interview granted to the Argentine channel Canal 26 in the context of President Donald Trump's historic visit to China.
Guelar, who has served as ambassador to the United States on two occasions, as well as in Brazil, the European Union, and China, was straightforward in addressing the Cuban situation: "Cuba is a monument to failure; it is not a threat to the world today, it has no influence anywhere, everyone knows it is a tragedy for Cubans, but it certainly does not justify military action today."
The statements come in the context of escalating rhetoric from Washington against Havana. On May 1, Trump claimed at a private dinner in West Palm Beach that the United States “will take control of Cuba almost immediately” once the conflict with Iran is concluded, mentioning the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier “100 yards off the coast” of Cuba.
However, on May 7, Brazilian President Lula da Silva revealed that Trump assured him privately that he has no plans to invade Cuba.
Guelar also expressed his perplexity regarding Trump's proposal to convert Venezuela into the 51st state of the United States, a statement made on May 11. "I really don't understand these things. I would like a psychiatrist to explain them to me because I can't grasp them from a geopolitical perspective," stated the former diplomat.
The analyst framed his comments on Cuba within a broader critique of Trump’s foreign policy. He noted that the president arrives at the summit with Xi Jinping "very weakened," with an approval rating between 65% and 68% according to major polls, and that he has alienated his traditional allies.
"Nobody can withstand unilateralism, and the president must understand that his major allies—not China or Russia, but his true allies, Europe, Mexico, Canada, Japan, and Australia—are at odds with everyone," Guelar stated.
Regarding Iran, he recalled that Trump abandoned the nuclear agreement negotiated by Obama between 2013 and 2015 in 2018, which allowed Tehran to resume uranium enrichment and, more recently, block the Strait of Hormuz charging for the passage of ships.
Guelar also questioned the Pentagon's approach to handling the conflict: "I have no doubt that today the Pentagon does not agree with the management, not with the war, but with the management of the war."
Meanwhile, Cuba is experiencing its worst crisis in decades, with power outages of up to 20 hours a day, a generation deficit exceeding 1,900 MW, and a GDP decline of 23% since 2019, a situation that the UN has described as a humanitarian emergency.
The former ambassador concluded with a call to the U.S. president: "Trump must reflect and reclaim the leadership that is rightfully his. There is no one else who can lead the free world other than the United States and President Trump."
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