The Vice President of the Senate of Puerto Rico, Carmelo Ríos Santiago, suspended a public hearing on Wednesday regarding the future of the former Naval Base Roosevelt Roads in Ceiba, after disclosing that he had received confidential information about the possibility that the island could serve as a support platform for a potential U.S. military operation in Cuba, related to the arrest warrant against Raúl Castro.
According to El Vocero de Puerto Rico, the senator —chairman of the Federal Relations Commission— was clear before concluding the work of the Federal Relations and People's Mandate Viability Commission for Status Solution.
"There is an unauthorized movement for disclosure regarding the arrest warrant for Raúl Castro and the possibility that Puerto Rico, as it was in the past for the case of Nicolás Maduro, could be one of those support bases. We want to have a slightly broader margin of information," he stated.
Santiago drew a direct parallel with the role that, according to him, Roosevelt Roads played before the capture of the then Venezuelan president in January 2026, and pointed out that the events "are not under our control nor within our jurisdiction."
"Based on the events of President Trump's order, based on information we are not authorized to discuss, but which suggests there may be some intervention with Cuba, we will respect that directive," added the also Vice President of the Senate.
The view examined the Senate Resolution 286, co-authored by Ríos Santiago himself and Senator Nitza Morán Trinidad, which mandates an assessment of the feasibility of reusing the base for national security purposes by the U.S. Army.
In light of the information received, the presidents of both commissions agreed to suspend the proceedings and excused the summoned witnesses, including the Secretary of Economic Development, Carlos J. Ríos Pierluisi, and the Mayor of Ceiba, Samuel Rivera Báez.
The investigation will continue with an on-site visit to the facilities scheduled for November 6, preceded by an executive meeting to discuss any information that arises from the Department of Defense or the DDEC itself.
Senator Morán Trinidad supported the decision: "It is commendable to understand what is happening and how it impacts Puerto Rico. This resolution gives us a foundation to continue investigating how the Roosevelt Roads base will be used."
The statements from the Puerto Rican legislator come at a time of sustained escalation. Roosevelt Roads, closed in 2004 following protests over the use of Vieques as a bombing range, was reactivated in November 2025 with a projected investment of 79 million dollars.
Between May and August of this year, over 8,100 soldiers conducted maneuvers on the island as part of the Southern Lance Operation by U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), and the Puerto Rican government signed an agreement with the Navy for the logistical use of the base alongside the Ramey and Muñiz facilities.
The judicial backdrop is the arrest warrant issued on October 16 by a federal judge in Miami against Raúl Castro, who is 95 years old, for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in relation to the shooting down of two aircraft belonging to Brothers to the Rescue on February 24, 1996, resulting in the deaths of four individuals.
The Cuban regime rejected the accusation: Díaz-Canel called it a "pathetic Miami circus" and Chancellor Bruno Rodríguez described it as an "infamous and sterile act."
This Saturday, it also emerged that Trump promised that no Castro will remain in power when he concludes his term, setting a deadline of "two and a half years" and evoking the capture of Maduro as a precedent, although he did not formally announce any military operation.
Related videos:
Filed under: