The United States Southern Command published images on Monday of Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit conducting aerial maneuvers over the Caribbean Sea, including takeoff and landing procedures and air-to-air refueling.
The images, shared on the X account of the Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), showcased a KC-130J Super Hercules from the Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron (VMGR) 253 and a V-22 Osprey —a tilt-rotor aircraft that combines helicopter and airplane capabilities— during a tactical nighttime operation.
Southern Command framed the maneuver within Operation Southern Spear, a campaign led by the Department of Defense with declared objectives to disrupt drug trafficking, deter hostile actors, and protect the U.S. mainland through continuous presence.
These maneuvers are the latest link in a chain of exercises that Washington has intensified in the Caribbean throughout 2026, with Cuba as a constant backdrop.
On May 29th, more than 1,300 Marines deployed in the Caribbean took on their mission as the Littoral Combat Force-24 (LCF-24), relieving the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit under the command of Colonel Ryan Lynch and operating from Puerto Rico and aboard the USS Fort Lauderdale.
On that same day, General Francis L. Donovan, head of Southern Command, met at the perimeter of the Guantánamo Naval Base with Cuban General Roberto Legrá Sotolongo, First Deputy Minister and Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Armed Forces — a contact described as unusual by international media and characterized by both parties as "positive."
On June 4th, Marines conducted fast rope insertion exercises from a UH-1Y Venom helicopter at the Guantanamo base itself, showcasing rapid assault capabilities just a few kilometers from Cuban territory.
The pinnacle of war rhetoric was reached on June 10, when Secretary of War Pete Hegseth visited Guantánamo for the second time and proclaimed the so-called "Donroe Doctrine," declaring: "The Monroe Doctrine is not only alive; the Roosevelt Corollary is still relevant, but now we have the Donroe Doctrine. We are reclaiming our hemisphere."
Hegseth also issued a direct warning to the regime of Miguel Díaz-Canel: "It would be unwise for the Cuban government to attempt to acquire or gain access to types of weaponry capable of reaching this base or the continental territory of the United States. They would be inviting a confrontation that not only do they not want, but also could not withstand."
The escalation is partly in response to an intelligence report released by Axios in May, which indicated that Cuba had acquired over 300 military drones from Russia and Iran since 2023, with scenarios discussed for using them against Guantánamo, military vessels, and possibly Key West.
Meanwhile, the governor of Puerto Rico, Jenniffer González-Colón, confirmed last Thursday that more than 8,100 soldiers will conduct exercises on the island between May and August 2026, and warned that the actions of Secretary of State Marco Rubio should be interpreted "as an ultimatum," adding that "July could be an excellent month to see it."
Hegseth summed up Washington's position with a phrase that captures the tone of this moment: "The future of Cuba is in the hands of the President of the United States and the leadership of Cuba. Whatever happens, the Department of War will be prepared and positioned for any possible eventuality."
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