Two littoral combat ships of the United States Navy recently arrived at the Guantanamo Naval Base, in Cuban territory, marking another indication of the increasing military pressure that Washington is exerting on the island.
The Guantanamo Naval Station announced the arrivals on its social media with welcome messages for both vessels and their crews.
The first to arrive was the USS Billings (LCS-15), the eighth ship of the Freedom variant of the littoral combat class, which docked in Guantánamo as part of its scheduled deployment in the Caribbean.
The USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul (LCS-21) followed, the 11th ship of that family of modern vessels, which departed from Mayport Naval Base, Florida, on August 27 and arrived in Guantánamo on Monday.
Both platforms are designed to operate in shallow and coastal waters. According to the official description from the Navy, "the coastal combat ship network addresses the threats of coastal mines, terrorism, and stealth submarines."
The institution also emphasized that the vessels uphold "the freedom of navigation for our nation through an innovative combination of ship design and construction, the skills and training of personnel, and operational programs that create a continuous maritime presence and protection."
The arrivals come at a time of heightened tension between Washington and Havana, characterized by a series of unprecedented recent diplomatic and military moves.
In May, the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, met in Havana with high-ranking officials from MININT, including Minister Lázaro Álvarez Casas, delivering a message from the Trump administration: “there is a ‘window of opportunity that will not remain open indefinitely’”.
Days later, the head of Southern Command, General Francis L. Donovan, met at the base's perimeter with Cuban General Roberto Legrá Sotolongo, First Deputy Minister and Chief of the General Staff of the FAR, in what constituted the first meeting of its kind in recent times between both commands.
In mid-June, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth visited Guantánamo and warned that Cuba should not acquire weapons capable of reaching the base or U.S. territory.
"The future of Cuba is in the hands of its leadership", declared Hegseth, who also stated that the Department of War would consider "every possible option" in the event of any contingency.
In parallel, the U.S. military reinforcement in the Caribbean is not limited to Guantánamo. At the end of August, it was confirmed that the Roosevelt Roads naval base in Puerto Rico is operating at full capacity with over 8,100 soldiers conducting maneuvers under SOUTHCOM's Southern Lance Operation, with a projected investment of 79 million dollars.
From Cuban civil society and the exile community, voices such as those of José Daniel Ferrer and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara have expressed support for a military action to overthrow the regime.
A digital independent survey from May, with over 42,000 valid responses, reported that 60.9% of participants supported a direct military intervention by the U.S., with 58% of responses geolocated from the island.
The regime, for its part, has responded with rhetoric of resistance. Miguel Díaz-Canel promised in March an “unassailable resistance” against any military action, while Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla rejected the idea that Cuba could be presented as a threat to U.S. national security.
The USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul is scheduled to participate starting September 10 in UNITAS 2026, the 67th edition of the multilateral naval exercise with 24 nations, off the coast of Lima, Peru.
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