Castro charges fuel debate over military action in Cuba

Charges against former Cuban President Raúl Castro are fueling speculation that the Trump administration is creating a pretext for military action against the communist regime.  

The charges against Castro and five others come amid renewed tensions between Havana and Washington and just days after a U.S. official, speaking anonymously to Axios, warned of Cuba’s drone fleet posing a risk to U.S. national security. 

Even some staunch Cuba hawks are skeptical that Havana would or could pre-emptively strike the U.S. And experts are skeptical about whether President Trump would attempt an in-and-out operation like the U.S. capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife in January.

“I don’t see why we would open that can of worms now, particularly given the state of things in Iran,” said Katherine Thompson, a former Trump administration official and now a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. 

“I don’t think that it would be as resource-intensive [as the Maduro raid] on our end, but it’s not great to have yourselves still spread very thin in the Middle East, and then willingly spreading yourself even more thin.”

President Trump on Wednesday insisted to reporters there would not be a U.S. escalation against Cuba as “the place is falling apart,” but said the country is “on our mind.”  

That didn’t stop some Republicans from voicing their support for an invasion of the island.

“We shouldn’t take anything off the table. Same thing that happened to Maduro should happen to Raul Castro. But I’m not going to get ahead of whatever the Trump administration wants to do,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said Wednesday.

Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) said an invasion is “exactly what should happen.”

“And that’s exactly what is good for the United States, we cannot have these thieves running that island any longer,” Salazar said in a press conference ahead of the expected indictment of Castro.

“What President........

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