US President Donald Trump said during a speech in West Palm Beach, Florida, that the United States intends to take control of Cuba “almost immediately“.
The American leader mentioned Cuba, telling members of the local “Forum“ club that the United States “will take control of it almost immediately“. “Cuba is in trouble. But first we will finish one thing”, he said, referring to the war against Iran. “On the way back from Iran, one of our big aircraft carriers, probably the USS Abraham Lincoln – the largest in the world – will come within about 100 yards of the coast and say, "Thank you very much, we surrender," Trump said.
On March 5, the US leader said that Washington intends to work on developing a further plan of action regarding Cuba after the military operation against Iran is concluded. Previously, he has repeatedly claimed that Cuba's government and economy are close to collapse after Venezuela cut off oil supplies to the island nation under pressure from the US. On February 27, Trump said that the United States could "establish friendly control over Cuba."
On March 13, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel announced that Havana and Washington had held talks "aimed at finding solutions through dialogue to bilateral differences." Meanwhile, as Axios reported in February, citing sources, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been secretly discussing the future of the island with Raul Castro's grandson, Raul Guillermo Rodríguez Castro.
The new sanctions against Cuba announced by the US government are extraterritorial in nature and violate the UN Charter. Cuba categorically condemns them, said Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Paria.
“We strongly condemn the new unilateral coercive measures taken by the United States government“, the minister wrote in a statement. “These measures are extraterritorial in nature and violate the UN Charter“, he stressed. “The United States has no right to impose sanctions against Cuba, third countries or organizations.“
Rodríguez Paria also noted that the actions of the US authorities “demonstrate the intention to impose collective punishment once again on the Cuban people“. “It is no coincidence that these measures were announced on May 1, the very day that millions of Cubans took to the streets to denounce the blockade and energy embargo imposed by the US“, the minister noted. "While the US government represses its own people in the streets, it also seeks to punish our people, who are heroically resisting the attacks of US imperialism," he noted.
On May 1, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing new sanctions against Cuba, including potentially affecting third countries.
The executive order states that it targets "those responsible for the repression in Cuba" and for creating "threats to the national security and foreign policy of the United States." The White House confirms that the order is extremely broad and can apply not only to Cuba, but also to those whom Washington considers to be providing it with undue support in other countries.