News SOS for Journalists Latin America Culture

Photos Photo of the Day Videos

Trump Says Cuba Is Next, But What That Means Is Unclear

HAVANA TIMES — From the Palace of the Revolution they want to deceive us with a game of cat and mouse, but the president of the United States, Donald Trump, speaks bluntly, sometimes the truth, others not.

This Friday he said that “Cuba is next” while highlighting US military actions in Venezuela and Iran: “I built these great Armed Forces. I said, ‘You’ll never have to use them,’ but sometimes you have to use them. And Cuba is next, by the way, but pretend I didn’t say that… media, please ignore that statement. Thank you very much. Cuba is next,” Trump stated during his speech at the FII Priority Summit held in Miami.

The setting is no coincidence either, because alarms went off in Florida last week when Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossío asserted that a change of government on the island is not being discussed, that the US administration is spending millions of dollars on a total blockade by sea and air simply to keep the same dog with a different collar, and those who believed what he said logically felt betrayed.

To make things perfectly clear, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in Paris after a meeting of G-7 foreign ministers: “Cuba’s economy needs to change, and it cannot change unless its system of government changes. It’s that simple. Who is going to invest billions of dollars in a communist country governed by incompetent communists?”

What are you going to say now, Cossio, if you’re not even the waiter at the negotiating table? The identity of the interlocutors on the Cuban side has been kept hidden, but it is by no means a minor issue. From the outset, knowing who is involved in talks would spare us from having appointed figureheads like Cossio, Bruno Rodríguez, and Miguel Diaz-Canel speak about things they know nothing about.

Rubio stated that “there may now be an opportunity,” but clearly with the right interlocutors, which in this case would be the Castro clan—the group that has had, has, and will have real power in this country until there is a drastic change.

Washington maintains an energy blockade around the island that has increased shortages among the population and forced the dictatorship to loosen some restrictions—so far timidly—with the aim of attracting foreign investors, mainly from the United States itself and in particular from its community of Cuban émigrés.

However, to be truly serious, the issues of human rights and freedom must be addressed, and at that point nothing has been done beyond occasional amnesties, sometimes only to re-imprison the same people later, as happened with Jose Daniel Ferrer.

That is why there is an attempt to depersonalize the struggle, because it is not about names, but about concrete actions and a real willingness to turn Cuba into a 21st-century country rather than one from the colonial era.

“This is not about the Castro family; it’s about a system of government and a regime that do not work,” Rubio said on the tarmac before departing for Washington.

The mention of the ruling clique is also not frivolous, because US and other media outlets still unofficially mention Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, grandson of Raul Castro, as an interlocutor.

It has not been confirmed, but the presence of Raul Guillermo in the front row while overseeing Diaz-Canel’s most recent televised appearance seems like a telling sign.

In this regard, another clue emerged this week when the visible leaders of the current government (Diaz-Canel and his prime minister Manuel Marrero) did not attend the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council held in Shymkent, Kazakhstan.

They had alternated attendance at recent meetings of this type, but on this occasion it was Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Perez-Oliva Fraga who traveled to Europe.

This should not be seen as just another protocol trip, as Perez-Oliva’s presence at this forum strengthens his profile as a rising figure within the regime—a new face gaining visibility outside the island.

Although he is a member of the Castro clan (a grand-nephew of Raul and Fidel), he does not carry the surname, and in some way this helps build an image of an independent leader with a technical profile, negotiation skills, and international projection.

His less worn image compared to other leaders positions him as a key figure at the current political moment, especially since he would also have his family’s backing if they need to delegate power to someone.

Many media outlets consider him a technocrat capable of negotiating and projecting Cuba globally, in a role similar to that of Delcy Rodriguez in Venezuela after the capture of Nicolas Maduro—a scenario that, in Cuba’s case, is still being avoided for now.

From Perez-Oliva’s own statements, Cuba is promoting an economic opening that would allow Cuban citizens living abroad to invest in the private sector and own businesses on the island.

His recent appointment as a deputy to Cuba’s National Assembly is also seen as a calculated move, since under Cuban law only deputies can become president.

While the possibility that the family that runs Cuba’s authoritarian political system could retain power would disappoint many Cuban exiles in the United States and elsewhere, this could be the “sweetener” that makes a transition more palatable. But I insist: much more international pressure is needed from its own allies (namely Russia, China, Vietnam, Nicaragua, etc.), which can no longer provide economic lifelines in the form of oil tankers or donations, but still support it politically.

If its own friends ask those with power to step aside, or at least to give its people a voice through a plebiscite, as I suggested in a previous commentary, then it will be possible to achieve regime change without bloodshed.

But just in case, Trump has already said: “Cuba is next.”

Read more from Cuba here on Havana Times.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );

Help Havana Times Continue in 2026

Get new posts by email:

The Havana Times Photo Contest Is Back for its 15th Edition

Book Reviews & Interviews

Havana Times New Books Section: Reviews & Interviews

We Have Everything, Havana, Cuba – Photo of the Day

Alvin Batiste– Song of the Day

Havana Weather for March 26 to April 1

Record Number of Journalists Killed in 2025, 2/3 by Israel

Trump Says Cuba Is Next, But What That Means Is Unclear

We Have Everything, Havana, Cuba – Photo of the Day

Havana, Cuba Seen From ‘The Control Tower’

Inside the Nicolas Maduro – Cilia Flores Hearing in NYC

The Triple Burden of Nicaraguan Miskitu Women in Costa Rica

The Hard Caregiver Reality in Cuba

Havana Times Photo Contest

2025 Havana Times Photo Contest Winners See now…

2026 Havana Times Photo Contest Announcement  See now…

Get new posts by email:

Copyright © 2026 Havana Times. All rights reserved.

© Havana Times