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Pete Hegseth, the United States Secretary of War, will visit the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in eastern Cuba this Wednesday as part of an official tour that will also take him to Tampa, Florida, afterward.
The trip was announced by the Department of War in a statement released on Tuesday, which informed that the official will meet with deployed troops in Guantánamo and with personnel from the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), based in Tampa.
The visit was also confirmed by journalist Phil Stewart, head of national security correspondents for Reuters, who reported on the social media platform X that Hegseth will travel to the naval base this Wednesday.
The presence of the Secretary of War in Guantánamo comes at a time of heightened attention on the U.S. military installation, which has recently been the site of migration operations, military movements, and contacts between leaders from Washington and Havana.
It will not be the first time Hegseth visits the base since taking office. In February 2025, he toured the facilities amid operations initiated by the Trump administration for the management of detained migrants, during which he held meetings with members of various units deployed at the site.
The official also has a personal connection to Guantánamo, where he previously served as an infantry officer in the Army National Guard before starting his career in media and later joining the government.
The naval base has played a prominent role in the U.S. strategy for the Caribbean over the past year. In May, the head of Southern Command, General Francis L. Donovan, met with Hegseth and subsequently held discussions with Cuban military leaders in the Guantanamo area, meetings that attracted attention due to their unusual nature.
After those meetings, Donovan assured the U.S. Senate that there were no military plans against Cuba and stated that the United States was not making preparations to invade, occupy, or control the island.
That same month, Southern Command described the facility as a strategic point for its regional operations within Operation Southern Spear, which includes military exercises, aerial surveillance, and naval force deployments in the Caribbean.
The base was also in the spotlight due to immigration issues. In early 2026, several Cuban migrants deported by the United States were temporarily detained in Guantánamo before being repatriated to the island weeks later.
For its part, the Cuban government maintains its historical claim to the territory occupied by the base and has repeatedly reiterated its rejection of the activities carried out there by Washington.
Hegseth's visit comes amid ongoing tensions between the United States and Cuba, although U.S. authorities have yet to report any specific announcements or new measures related to the trip.
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