'Wouldn't be a very tough...': Trump to order Venezuela-like operation in Cuba to oust President Miguel Diaz-Canel?
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'Wouldn't be a very tough...': Trump to order Venezuela-like operation in Cuba to oust President Miguel Diaz-Canel?")
Combination of pictures of US President Donald Trump and Cuba's President and First Secretary Miguel Diaz-Canel Photograph: (AFP)
Trump says Washington is in active talks with Cuba, with Marco Rubio leading discussions. While signalling openness to a deal, the US is increasing economic pressure through sanctions and fuel restrictions, aiming to push political and economic changes in the island nation.
US President Donald Trump has said that he is currently talking to Cuba but didn't rule out Venezuela-like operations in the country. Speaking to reporters en route to Washington from Palm Beach, Florida, Trump said that Cuba should “absolutely” make a deal with the US, adding that his Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in talks with him.
"We're talking to Cuba right now. They should absolutely make a deal. We'll see how it all turns out. But Cuba and us, we are talking. In the meantime, there's an embargo, there's no oil, there's no money," he said, adding that Cuba "a failed nation." Asked if he would consider a military operation like the one in Venezuela, Trump said, "Why would I answer that? If I was, it wouldn't be a very tough operation, as you can figure, but I don't think that'll be necessary," he said. The US has halted oil supplies to Cuba from Mexico and Venezuela and reinstated its blockade, declaring its intention to overthrow the republic's leftist government by one means or another. Washington has also imposed an embargo on fuel deliveries to the island nation. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” Trump had warned Cuba on January 11.
What is the US planning to do with Cuba?
Earlier this year, an article titled ‘The US Is Actively Seeking Regime Change in Cuba by the End of the Year’ claimed that the strategy by the US to weaken and eventually overthrow the Cuban government appears to be multi-pronged, including a search for government insiders in Cuba for a deal that would end the Communist rule as well as economic pressure. The US assessment is that the Cuban economy is on the brink of collapse, weakened by the loss of support from Venezuela that had provided much of Cuba’s oil and energy needs as a satellite state. “The regime has to make a choice to step down or to better provide for its people,” the report cited Jeremy Lewin, the State Department’s acting under-secretary for foreign assistance, as saying. Another White House official cited in the report described Cuba’s rulers as “incompetent Marxists who destroyed their country.” The State Department has long held that it is in US national security interests for Cuba to be ‘competently run by a democratic government’ and to refuse to host adversaries’ military and intelligence service.
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US attacked Venezuela and captured Maduro
As the year 2026 began, Trump ordered the US military to launch Operation Absolute Resolve. It was a direct US intervention in Venezuela that led to the capture of Nicholas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their compound in Caracas. Maduro and Flores were flown to New York City and charged with narco-terrorism and drug trafficking. They pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan federal court. Trump declared that he will ‘run’ Venezuela. Meanwhile, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as Venezuela's acting president. While she denounced the capture of Maduro, her government has since begun releasing some political prisoners as a gesture toward “consolidating peace.” Maduro is currently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, New York. Maduro pleaded not guilty to all charges during his initial court appearance on January 5. His next scheduled court hearing is set for March 17. On Jan 13, Maduro's X account became accessible again, with no clarity as to who is using it on his behalf.
