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General Francis Donovan, commander of the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), met this Thursday with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon, as revealed by journalist Julia Jester from MSNOW News on X, citing a source with direct knowledge of the meeting.
The meeting was called at the request of Hegseth himself and takes place during one of the highest tensions between Washington and Havana in decades. The gathering coincides with the arrival of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in the Caribbean last Wednesday—Cuba's Independence Day—and with a series of actions of high symbolic impact directed against the Cuban regime.
The deployment of the USS Nimitz is part of Operation Southern Seas 2026 and also includes the destroyer USS Gridley and the replenishment ship USNS Patuxent. SOUTHCOM described the naval formation as "the epitome of readiness and presence, reach and unmatched lethality, and strategic advantage."
However, President Donald Trump denied on Thursday that the deployment is aimed at intimidating Cuba. "Not at all. We are going to help them," he stated, referring to the island, which he described as "a failed country" lacking electricity, money, and food. Trump insisted that the presence of the aircraft carrier is not meant to pressure the regime and expressed his intention to "open Cuba for Cuban Americans so they can return and help."
In parallel, Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged to the press that he does not see much progress in the negotiations with Havana, although he confirmed that the U.S. ambassador recently held meetings with Cuban officials and that the CIA director visited the island a few weeks ago.
Rubio was also blunt about the future of the Cuban system: "At the end of the day, they have to make a decision. Their system doesn’t work. Their economic system doesn’t work. It’s broken and cannot be fixed with the current political system." He also warned that "Cuba will not be able to keep buying time or wait for us to yield."
Regarding the possible detention of Raúl Castro—formally accused last Wednesday for the downing of the Hermanos al Rescate planes in 1996— Rubio avoided providing details, though he left a phrase full of suspense: "I’m not going to talk about how we’re going to bring him here. Why would I tell the media? If there’s an announcement, we’ll let you know afterward, not before."
The security context surrounding the meeting between Donovan and Hegseth is particularly sensitive. Last Saturday, Axios revealed that Cuba had acquired over 300 military drones from Russia and Iran, amid discussions regarding potential uses against the Guantanamo Naval Base and Key West. The following day, Politico reported that SOUTHCOM had begun planning exercises for possible contingency scenarios related to Cuba.
Since January 2026, the Trump administration has imposed more than 240 sanctions against the island and intercepted at least seven tankers carrying oil destined for the regime. According to official reports, these measures are said to have reduced Cuban energy imports by between 80% and 90%, causing blackouts of up to 25 hours a day in more than 55% of the national territory.
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