The president Donald Trump dismissed on Saturday a military intervention against Cuba and favored a negotiated solution, in response to questions about reports of the activation of U.S. military reserves linked to Southern Command.
"Cuba and we will reach an agreement. I don't believe we need to resort to military means. Cuba is failing spectacularly. We want to help Cuba. We want to open it up to our people. We have great Cuban-Americans who want to return," Trump declared to the media.
The words of the president came one day after CBS News revealed an internal memorandum from the U.S. Army Reserve assessing whether military police, medical, engineering, and logistics units could be available for Southern Command within a timeframe of 90 to 120 days.
The document did not order any deployment nor mentioned Cuba by name, and officials described the measure as contingency planning.
Trump did not formally close off any options —something consistent with his negotiating style— but his tone was unequivocally in favor of a diplomatic understanding rather than a solution through force.
The previous week had been marked by a notable escalation in rhetoric. On September 22, Trump described Cuba as an "absolutely failed state" before the UN General Assembly and stated that it "will fall," while the delegation of the Cuban regime left the room during the speech.
In that same forum, Trump indicated that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was "conducting negotiations" with Havana, although the Cuban government denied the existence of any formal negotiation, agreement, or roadmap.
The Washington strategy combines maximum economic pressure with diplomatic signals. On September 17, the State Department announced sanctions against 11 actors—eight entities and three military officials—linked to the nickel sector and the Cuban military apparatus.
At the beginning of September, the U.S. had already sanctioned Fidel Ernesto Castro Calis, the grandson of Raúl Castro, along with other banking and economic entities. The annual total exceeds 40 entities and at least 38 individuals sanctioned.
Rubio, the principal architect of U.S. policy towards Cuba, has stated that the pressure will continue until the regime "sees the writing on the wall."
The Cuban government, for its part, declared 2026 as the "Year of Defense Preparation" and continues to conduct weekly military exercises in various provinces.
On September 12, Díaz-Canel stated that “the threat of aggression remains”, linking the regime's defensive stance to the rhetoric of Washington.
The analyst Eric Daugherty, who shared the video of Trump's statements, summarized the president's position as follows: "Military action is never off the table for the 47, but it is clear that he prefers an agreement."
Marco Rubio is weakening the communist regime with repeated sanctions, hoping to coerce them into seeing the writing on the wall through relentless economic pressure.
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