Cuba war fears as Trump government declares island is ‘threat to US’ | World | News

A senior figure in Donald Trump’s administration has sparked invasion fears for Cuba after declaring the island nation a “national security threat” to the United States. Secretary of State Marco Rubio Trump’s most senior voice on foreign affairs announced this week that the mood was shifting towards the Caribbean country.

Cuba, about 90 miles from the U.S. mainland, has long been a thorn in the side of White House governments because it remains America’s closest communist neighbor. On Wednesday, the United States announced that former Cuban President Raúl Castro was charged with ordering the shooting down of two civilian airliners flown by Miami-based exiles in 1996, killing two US citizens. The charges include killing and destroying an aircraft.

Castro, a relative of the famous revolutionary leader Fidel, was Cuba’s defense minister at the time. The announcement of charges against a member of Cuba’s ruling dynasty sparked comparisons with U.S. tactics against Venezuela earlier this year. American special forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife during a military assault on the country in January after prosecutors accused the duo of drug trafficking crimes.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez accused Mr. Rubio of “lying” and said the island had never posed a threat to the United States. “Diplomacy remains our preference on Cuba,” Mr. Rubio told reporters on Thursday, but added: “I’ll be honest with you, you know, given who we’re dealing with right now, the likelihood of that happening is not high.”

Mr. Rubio later shared on X that Cuba was “one of the leading sponsors of terrorism in the entire region.”

BBC reported Mr. Rubio said Washington’s preference was the “diplomatic solution,” but the President Donald Trump He had the right and obligation to protect his country against all kinds of threats.

Before the United States attacked Venezuela in January, Mr. Rubio announced that America had identified a terrorist organization allegedly linked to President Maduro.

President Trump said Thursday that this was perhaps the clearest signal of impending intervention in Cuba, saying previous U.S. presidents had considered intervening on the island for decades but “it looked like I was going to be the one to do it.”

“Other presidents have been looking at this, doing things, for 50, 60 years,” Trump told reporters when asked about Cuba during an environmental event in the Oval Office. “And it looks like I’ll be the one to do it. So I’d be happy to do it.”

The impeachment of the former Cuban president and statements by Mr. Trump and Mr. Rubio have revived fears of a possible U.S. military strike on Cuba, similar to what happened in Venezuela in early January.

“We expect him to come here voluntarily or otherwise,” Acting U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche said while announcing the charges against the former Cuban president at a press conference in Miami.

Cuba’s socialist government condemned the accusations and held a rally to honor Castro on Friday.

Thousands of people flocked to Havana’s famous sea wall to show their support for him and to denounce the accusation against him. Raúl Castro, 94, did not attend, but his grandson and daughter Mariela Castro were there.

“Who do they think they are to judge Raúl?” Gerardo Hernández asked this question as the crowd gathered in front of the US embassy cheered. Hernández is one of five Cubans accused of being spies who were imprisoned by the United States in 2014 and later released.

“Long live Raul!” “For the United States of America, the law is a personalized suit,” he said, before punching the air with his fist to shout.

The crowd responded to his call: “Homeland or death, we will prevail!”