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Stephen Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff at the White House, warned on Thursday that the Cuban regime has the power to decide whether to reform and move closer to the United States, amid the most significant escalation of pressure from Washington on Havana in decades.
"They have seen the sanctions that have been imposed. They have seen the measures that the Administration has taken. Ultimately, it depends on Cuba whether it decides to reform, whether it wants to be a free country, whether it wants to be a friend of the United States, or if it chooses a different path," declared Miller, quoted by Telemundo.
"In short, your destiny is in your own hands," he emphasized.
Miller's words come after the Department of Justice formally charged the former dictator Raúl Castro for the downing in 1996 of two planes from the organization Brothers to the Rescue, resulting in the deaths of four Americans and one legal resident Cuban in the U.S.
The Secretary of State Marco Rubio described Castro as a "fugitive from U.S. justice" and deemed a negotiated agreement with Havana unlikely in the current context.
"The probability of that happening... is not high," he stated, although he left the diplomatic avenue open if the Cuban leadership changes its stance.
Rubio also outlined a $100 million humanitarian aid package conditioned on the regime agreeing to its distribution through religious organizations—primarily the Catholic Church—and not through state or military structures.
"They say she has been accepted. We'll see if that means it's going to be finalized," he said.
Washington's offensive is unfolding on multiple fronts. The Department of the Treasury sanctioned Cuban ministers, high-ranking military officials, the intelligence agency, and the military conglomerate GAESA.
Since January, secondary sanctions on oil supply have reduced the island's energy imports by between 80% and 90%, causing power outages of up to 22 hours in Havana and widespread shortages.
In addition, there is the deployment of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in the Caribbean, which Trump himself denied on Thursday was intended to intimidate the regime.
"Not at all. We are going to help them," stated the president, who restated his willingness to engage in dialogue with the government of Miguel Díaz-Canel.
The Cuban dictator warned that a U.S. military intervention would trigger a catastrophe, while the regime distributed civil defense pamphlets among the population.
Internal protests over the crisis continue to be suppressed, and human rights organizations reported a record 1,250 political prisoners in March.
From Moscow, the spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, reaffirmed Russia's "full solidarity" with Cuba and accused Washington of preparing a military intervention, although analysts point out that this support has significant material limits in the face of the pressure accumulated by the Trump administration.
On the same Thursday, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled 8 to 1 in favor of Havana Docks Corporation, opening the door to lawsuits for assets confiscated by the Cuban regime in 1960, in another judicial blow that adds to the mounting pressure on Havana.
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