The spokesman for the Department of State, Tommy Pigott, blamed the Cuban regime this Sunday for the humanitarian crisis affecting the island and reaffirmed that Washington will not relent in its pressure until achieving "a Cuba where the Cuban people can be free, happy, and prosperous," just like the Cubans living in exile in various parts of the world.
In statements to Fox News, Pigott directly attributed the crisis to the regime's management, leaving no room for interpretation: "The reason there is a humanitarian crisis on the island is the incompetence of the regime. They are incompetent communists, as Secretary Rubio likes to say."
The spokesperson indicated that, to date, Havana has been "reluctant to take steps to move in that direction," which is why the Trump administration will continue to push for that change.
In terms of assistance, Pigott recalled that the U.S. offered 100 million dollars in humanitarian aid, conditioned on the resources reaching the Cuban people directly through trusted external validators, without passing through the hands of the government or the military conglomerate GAESA.
Of that amount, 60 million are channeled through Catholic Relief Services and Cáritas Cuba, and 40 million through other independent humanitarian organizations.
The first flight of the program landed on the island on July 21, 2026, and as of the end of this week, at least four shipments to various Cuban dioceses have been recorded.
Beyond the assistance, the spokesperson warned that Washington will intensify sanctions against those who enable the military elite to seize the country's resources: "We will continue to take steps to identify that network of networks and sanction that network of networks," he stated.
Pigott also emphasized the national security dimension of the matter: "Having what is essentially a failed state just miles from our shores represents a direct threat to the national security of the United States."
The spokesperson's statements come days after Trump declared his intention to "resolve the issue of Cuba" before leaving the presidency and did not rule out the use of military force if necessary.
In that interview, the president pointed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the official in charge of managing the Cuban file: “We have a very good and talented guy from Cuba named Marco… Marco Rubio. His parents are from Cuba, as you probably know, and he would love to do it. So we are watching him very closely.”
Rubio, for his part, warned at the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Paris that the instability in Cuba "needs to change," reiterating the argument that the situation on the island poses a threat to regional security.
The pressure policy is supported by a legal framework that includes Executive Order 14404, signed on May 1, 2026, and a series of designations that have targeted GAESA, its president Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, family members of military leaders, and networks connected to the nickel sector and the Cuban intelligence apparatus.
At the close of this day, there is no presidential order, mobilization, or official operational plan aimed at a military intervention in Cuba.
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