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Francis Suárez, a Cuban-American figure of the Republican Party and former mayor of Miami, described President Donald Trump's policy toward Cuba on Thursday as the "python strategy," in an interview with The Will Cain Show published on May 15.
"I call it the strategy of the boa constrictor. It continues to exert increasingly more pressure while negotiating at the same time," Suárez stated, summarizing in a metaphor the doctrine of maximum pressure that the Trump administration applies to the regime in Havana.
According to Suárez, Trump has offered a way out to the leaders of the Cuban regime, but they refuse to take it. "He has given everyone an exit, a chance to leave. Unfortunately, many do not believe in his determination or his will, or for some reason think they cannot or should not leave, and so they become entrenched. And that has had disastrous consequences," he noted.
The former mayor warned that time is running out: "I believe there will be a small window. If they do not take advantage of that window, my assumption is that the United States will act and frankly create a generational change in this hemisphere once again."
Suárez also emphasized the broader implications of the strategy, noting that Cuba serves as a "base of operations" for the enemies of the United States, with direct consequences for illegal immigration and hemispheric security.
Suárez's words have a concrete backing in the actions of the administration. On January 20, 2026, Trump reinstated Cuba on the list of state sponsors of terrorism. On January 29, he signed Executive Order 14380, declaring a national emergency regarding the island.
On May 1, Trump signed a new executive order against the dictatorship that expands sanctions, blocks assets linked to the regime within U.S. territory, and provides for secondary sanctions against foreign financial institutions that conduct business with sanctioned Cuban entities.
Since January 2026, the administration has imposed more than 240 sanctions against the Cuban regime and intercepted at least seven tankers headed to the island, exacerbating an energy crisis with blackouts of up to 25 hours daily.
On May 6, Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated under this sanctions framework GAESA —the Cuban military business conglomerate—, its CEO Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, and Moa Nickel S.A. The Trump sanctions against the Cuban regime shook the Canadian company Sherritt as well, which reported that the measures materially affected its ability to operate in Cuba.
The chief advisor of Marco Rubio on sanctions against GAESA has confirmed that the pressure will continue to escalate if the regime does not yield, in line with what Suárez described: "The president has articulated the strategy. He is executing it. He is applying more pressure."
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