Trump and Rubio's escalating rhetoric show a Cuba invasion could be imminent - Axios
Kyiv • UNN
Trump is increasing pressure on Cuba and considering military intervention options. The number of US reconnaissance flights near the island's shores has risen sharply.
U.S. President Donald Trump is ramping up pressure on the Cuban government, fueling concerns that his persistent threats to invade the Caribbean island could become a reality, Axios reports, according to UNN.
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A U.S. invasion of Cuba would mark the most dramatic confrontation between Washington and Havana since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis — and the boldest test of Trump's campaign to expand American influence in the Western Hemisphere under his version of the Monroe Doctrine.
According to a CNN review of flight data published this week, flights of American surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft off the coast of Cuba have increased sharply since February.
US intensifies reconnaissance flights near Cuba – CNN10.05.26, 23:30 • 3358 views
The U.S. imposed additional sanctions against Havana last Thursday, prompting the country's foreign minister to call the measures "collective punishment of a genocidal nature."
The island is also facing a worsening humanitarian crisis, which Cuban officials blame on a U.S. "energy blockade" that prevents oil suppliers from servicing the island.
And the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro has further worsened local conditions, cutting Cuba off from a key oil supplier.
"There are no definitive signs that Cuba will be the next target for Trump," the publication points out.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva told reporters last Thursday that Trump privately told him during a closed-door meeting at the White House that he has no intention of invading Cuba.
At the same time, the publication writes, Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in a military operation in Cuba, suggesting on Friday that an aircraft carrier returning to the U.S. from Iran could be stationed off the coast.
He said the aircraft carrier could "pull in, stop about 100 yards off the shore, and they'll say, 'Thank you very much. We surrender.'"
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, told reporters last week that the country's economic system is broken and cannot be fixed.
"And the reason why they can't fix it is not just because they're communists. That's bad enough," he said of the country's unelected ruling party. "But they're incompetent communists. The only thing worse than a communist is an incompetent communist."
A White House official told Axios on Monday that "Cuba is a failing country that has been horribly managed for many years, and whose rulers have failed significantly due to the loss of support from Venezuela."
They added: "As the President has stated, Cuba is a failing country. In a short period of time, they will fall, and we will be there to help them."
A U.S. State Department spokesperson told Axios that "the Cuban regime continues to demonstrate its indifference to the suffering of the people and refuses to reform or prevent the delivery of vital humanitarian aid."
"President Trump would prefer a diplomatic solution, but he and his administration will not allow the island to turn into an even more serious threat to the national security of the United States," he noted.
Sebastian Arcos, interim director of the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University, told Axios that he believed intervention was possible shortly after Trump stated in January that Cuba was an immediate threat to U.S. security, but then the war with Iran shifted military resources to the Middle East.
Arcos added that he does not believe Trump will put boots on the ground, but that he could conduct "military actions from a distance," similar to those that occurred in Iran, which would "shock the regime, break the leadership, and perhaps create an opportunity for new leadership to emerge."
Arcos noted that Cuba's Independence Day, which marks the end of the U.S. occupation of the island, falls on May 20.
He said something could happen then, adding: "There is definitely a sense of anticipation and anxiety in Miami and in Cuba."