Trump Says Cuba Is 'Ready to Fall'(nytimes.com)
nytimes.com
Trump Says Cuba Is 'Ready to Fall'
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/world/americas/trump-venezuela-cuba.html
12 comments
I think this is the telling statement in the article wrt Cuba relevance:
...Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Cuban American who as a U.S. senator was famous for his longstanding antipathy toward Havana. Mr. Rubio has long signaled his belief that a change in Venezuela’s government would weaken Cuba, which he has said would be a welcome outcome.
Which links to an article with more context:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/us/politics/rubio-cuba-ve...
...Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Cuban American who as a U.S. senator was famous for his longstanding antipathy toward Havana. Mr. Rubio has long signaled his belief that a change in Venezuela’s government would weaken Cuba, which he has said would be a welcome outcome.
Which links to an article with more context:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/us/politics/rubio-cuba-ve...
In addition to its geopolitical value, Cuba has some of the most favorable geography in the world for agriculture and tourism. It's 4x the size of Hawaii and conveniently located for America, Latin America, and Europe.
They also have a highly educated population, a rich culture of music and food recognized around the world, and low crimes.
It has the potential to be a world class travel destination - the only thing holding it in irrelevance is its own despotic government and the US's sanctions on said government.
If you were a profit-driven imperialist, Cuba probably represents the largest untapped opportunity in the Western Hemisphere.
They also have a highly educated population, a rich culture of music and food recognized around the world, and low crimes.
It has the potential to be a world class travel destination - the only thing holding it in irrelevance is its own despotic government and the US's sanctions on said government.
If you were a profit-driven imperialist, Cuba probably represents the largest untapped opportunity in the Western Hemisphere.
The relevance of Cuba is that (with the help of another power with better military tech) it can shut down transit of big ships to and from the US gulf coast.
The Cuban voting bloc in Florida. That’s the relevance.
>Today Cuba is irrelevant.
Cuba has been linked to supporting terrorist activities. Over 20,000 Cubans are reportedly fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine. The Cuban government has also been known to back authoritarian regimes worldwide. For instance, it was a Cuban intelligence group assigned to protect Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro that was reportedly targeted and eliminated by U.S. Delta Force during an operation to capture Maduro. This incident highlighted that Maduro did not trust his own security forces.
In addition, the U.S. government has accused Cuba of being involved in the "Havana Syndrome," a series of mysterious health incidents where American diplomats were reportedly attacked using a radio frequency weapon. The device was later found to be in the possession of a Russian agent in Florida (see 60 minutes Investigation). Despite Cuba's severe economic hardships, it continues to find resources to support global terror activities. This occurs even as basic necessities, like bread, are difficult to obtain within Cuba itself.
Hope that the U.S. will eventually put an end to the communist regime in Cuba.
Cuba has been linked to supporting terrorist activities. Over 20,000 Cubans are reportedly fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine. The Cuban government has also been known to back authoritarian regimes worldwide. For instance, it was a Cuban intelligence group assigned to protect Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro that was reportedly targeted and eliminated by U.S. Delta Force during an operation to capture Maduro. This incident highlighted that Maduro did not trust his own security forces.
In addition, the U.S. government has accused Cuba of being involved in the "Havana Syndrome," a series of mysterious health incidents where American diplomats were reportedly attacked using a radio frequency weapon. The device was later found to be in the possession of a Russian agent in Florida (see 60 minutes Investigation). Despite Cuba's severe economic hardships, it continues to find resources to support global terror activities. This occurs even as basic necessities, like bread, are difficult to obtain within Cuba itself.
Hope that the U.S. will eventually put an end to the communist regime in Cuba.
America, heck yeah!
> Hope that the U.S. will eventually put an end to the communist regime in Cuba.
Or, you know, hope that the people of Cuba will.
Or, you know, hope that the people of Cuba will.
Well, for starters it is home to 11 million people. It might not be relevant to your life, but it certainly is relevant to theirs.
Right. Afghanistan had 20M+ in 2001, what’s your point?
What I’m saying is that, geopolitically, Cuba is not relevant today the US has no upside in going after it. They don’t even put out anti-American rhetoric anymore.
What I’m saying is that, geopolitically, Cuba is not relevant today the US has no upside in going after it. They don’t even put out anti-American rhetoric anymore.
Having visited Cuba over the past 30+ years more that 42 times, was the first U.S. citizen to be approved by the Cuban Ministry of Education to teach U.S. History in English to. 30 Cuban 3rd year English majors, led the North Carolina Department of Agriculture's 1st agribusiness delegation to Cuba consisting of 42 NC agribusiness leaders, having led several college/university 3-week study abroad groups to Cuba, having traveled from one end of Cuba to the other staying in casaparticulares with Cuban families, having met first-hand with Cubans in and around Santiago de Cuba who knew Frank Pais, a great Cuban Revolutionary hero and son of a Cuban Baptist pastor who was murdered by Batista police at the age of 23 years and having done research on Frank in El Cana and the 1st Baptist Church of Santiago de Cuba where Frank was born. I know Cuba. The late Wayne Smith, President Carter's Ambassador-emissary to Cuba was a dear friend of mine with whom I learned much regarding the rocky relationship between the U.S. and Cuba. Though Fidel Castro remains a negative figure to most U.S. citizens, he will be remembered for freeing Cuba from over 500 years of foreign powers being in control of Cuba (Spain & the USA) Castro gave Cuba her sovereignty - something Trump will never understand nor will he be able to steal it from the people of Cuba. Trump is an evil, power mongering man with a total absence of moral or ethical values. He has corrupt designs on Greenland, Canada and other areas of South America. Trump must be stopped!
Today Cuba is irrelevant. I don’t even know the name on the Cuban president, they are not in the news, produce nothing, and threats nobody.
That would just be a wasted of “goodwill” IMO.