Marco Rubio says a deal with Cuba is ‘not likely’
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the chances of a negotiated peaceful agreement between the United States and Cuba are “not high.”
WASHINGTON—The top U.S. military commander who oversees Latin America’s armed forces held an unusual meeting with senior Cuban military officials on May 29 near Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the U.S. military base, the U.S. military said, confirming a Reuters report.
Gen. Francis Donovan, commander of U.S. Southern Command, briefly discussed operational security issues with a Cuban delegation that included Cuba’s First Deputy Chief of Staff Roberto Regla Sotolongo, U.S. Southern Command announced on X News.
“Mr. Donovan also led a security assessment around the naval base and spoke with base officials about protection of troops, safety of service members and their families, and operational readiness.”
Mr. Donovan’s meeting in Cuba was the first by a Confederate commander in recent memory and came amid growing concern in Cuba about a possible U.S. military attack on the communist-held island.
The Cuban Armed Forces said on Facebook that the meeting took place with mutual consent and that both sides agreed to maintain communication.
“Both delegations positively evaluated the meeting in which issues related to security around the border of the military enclave were addressed and it was agreed to maintain communication between the two military commands,” the statement said.
The talks followed a rare visit by CIA Director John Ratcliffe to Havana in early May.
President Donald Trump has frequently cited Cuba as one of his foreign policy goals during his second term, hinting that it would be a focus once the war with Iran ends.
Cuba rejects US charges against Raul Castro over 1996 shootout
Cuba condemns the U.S. grand jury’s indictment of Raul Castro over the 1996 shooting down of the Brothers to the Rescue plane and has declared full support.
US indicts former Cuban president Raul Castro
Cuba has been an enemy of the United States for decades since Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution.
President Trump has strong support from hard-line Cuban-Americans in Florida, who have been pushing for regime change at U.S. instigation for decades, and his administration has steadily increased pressure on the island.
On May 20, the United States formally indicted former President Raul Castro on four counts of murder for shooting down a civilian plane operated by a Miami-based exile in 1996.
The indictment was the latest example of the Trump administration’s efforts to assert U.S. influence in the Western Hemisphere.
Washington’s more active role in Latin America was epitomized by the U.S. military raid on January 3 to detain Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas and fly him to New York to face drug trafficking charges.
Maduro, a socialist allied with Havana, has maintained his innocence.
Rubio’s comments and photos raise alarm
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and a former Florida senator, sounded alarm as he spoke in Havana about the national security risks posed by what he called a failed state just 90 miles from Florida.
On May 5, Mr. Rubio and Mr. Donovan posed in front of a map of Cuba in a post to X by Mr. Donovan’s Southern Command. The newspaper said the talks focused on “U.S. efforts to counter threats to the security, stability, and democracy of our hemisphere.”
Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez warned that any military action would lead to “bloodshed” in which thousands of Cubans and Americans would die.
President Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on countries that supply the island with fuel, imposing a de facto fuel blockade on the island and causing endless power outages, dealing another blow to the island’s already struggling economy.
Experts say Cuba’s insecurity is threatened by a migrant crisis.
(Additional reporting by Kostas Pitas and Kylie Madrid; Editing by Franklin Paul and Rod Nickel)
