President Trump said that without Venezuela’s aid, Cuba would have no fuel or money and the country would be “brewing smoke.”
President Trump calls Cuba a ‘failed nation’ as oil embargo talks continue
President Donald Trump on February 16 called Cuba a “failed nation”, saying the oil embargo has made it more difficult to operate the country’s flights and airports.
DORAL, Fla. – President Donald Trump said Cuba must reach an agreement for a “friendly takeover” or face an unfriendly takeover by the communist regime.
“It may be a friendly takeover, it may not be a friendly takeover. It doesn’t matter, because they really, as I say, are bad guys through and through,” Trump said on March 9. “They don’t have energy, they don’t have money. They’re in serious humanitarian trouble.”
His comments were made during a press conference that focused primarily on the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran, which began on February 28 and began after the U.S. military ousted Venezuela’s president on January 3.
Trump has argued that Cuba has relied on Venezuelan aid for decades, but that aid has dried up after the U.S. detention of Nicolás Maduro on narco-terrorism and human trafficking charges. Maduro’s successor, Delcy Rodriguez, has cooperated with the United States and has not sent aid to Cuba.
“Venezuela is not sending them energy, fuel, oil, money, anything,” President Trump said. “Without Venezuela, they wouldn’t have been able to succeed. We cut them off from everything else. So, yeah, either they make a deal or we make it easy anyway.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose parents are Cuban immigrants, continues to negotiate with Cuba’s leadership to avoid military conflict.
Details of the deal, which covers ports, energy and tourism, are unclear but could include easing travel restrictions for Americans to the Caribbean island.
Discussions include President Miguel Díaz-Canel and members of the Castro family, which ruled Cuba for decades, remaining on the island. The US government is considering lifting some sanctions.
After Trump’s press conference in Doral, the president stopped by El Arepaso restaurant in a nearby Venezuelan neighborhood. I was introduced to an 87-year-old man who wanted to travel with Trump to a free Cuba.
President Trump said, “We’re going to Cuba together.”
