US To Strike Cuba Today? Top US Military Officials Arrive In Cuba, Meet Cuban Officials in Guantanamo Bay (Image: @Southcom via X)
The US military reported on Friday that senior Cuban military officials met with the top US commander in charge of Latin American forces within the perimeter of US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. The Cuban delegation, which included Cuban General Roberto Legra Sotolongo, first deputy minister of the chief of the General Staff, had a brief conversation with US General Francis Donovan, head of US Southern Command, about operational security issues.
#SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan met with Army Corps General, Gen. Roberto Legrá Sotolongo, First Deputy Minister of the Chief of the General Staff, and other senior leaders from the Cuban military today at the perimeter of Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for a… pic.twitter.com/V4Fau3HxSo
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) May 29, 2026
‘Donovan also led a perimeter security assessment of the naval base and discussed force protection, safety of service members and their families, and operational readiness with base officials’, US Southern Command said on X. Donovan’s visit to Cuba is the first by a Southern Command chief in recent memory, and it coincides with escalating Cuban fears of a potential American military assault on the Communist run island.
The Cuban military posted on Facebook that the meeting was mutually agreed upon and that both parties will continue to communicate. ‘Both delegations evaluate positively the meeting where issues related to security around the dividing perimeter of the military enclave were addressed and agreed to maintain communication between both military commands’, the statement stated. The meeting comes after CIA Director John Ratcliffe made a rare trip to Havana earlier in May. Cuba has frequently been mentioned by President Donald Trump as one of his second term’s foreign policy objectives, and he has indicated that after the war with Iran is over, he will turn his attention to it.
Since Fidel Castro’s revolution in 1959, Cuba has been an enemy of the United States for many years. Hardline Cuban Americans in Florida, who have long advocated for regime change brought about by the United States, firmly support Trump, and his administration has been gradually increasing pressure on the island. Former President Raul Castro was officially accused by the United States on May 20 with four counts of murder for the 1996 downing of commercial planes flown by exiles residing in Miami. The most recent instance of the Trump administration’s attempts to establish American dominance in the Western Hemisphere was the indictment. The bold invasion by the US military on January 3 to apprehend Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas and then transport him to New York to face drug trafficking charges exemplified Washington’s more assertive posture in Latin America. Maduro, a socialist who supported Havana, entered a not guilty plea.
The son of Cuban immigrants and a potential candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2028, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has caused concern in Havana by discussing the threat to national security posed by what he refers to as a failing state located barely 90 miles (145 km) from Florida.
On May 5, Donovan’s Southern Command posted a photo of Rubio and Donovan standing in front of a map of Cuba on X. The discussions, according to the report, were centred on ‘US efforts to counter threats that undermine security, stability and democracy in our hemisphere.’ Bruno Rodriguez, the foreign minister of Cuba, has issued a warning that any military action would result in a ‘bloodbath’ that will kill thousands of Americans and Cubans. By threatening tariffs on nations that supply the island with fuel, Trump has essentially established a fuel blockade on the island, causing apparently unending power outages and further damaging the island’s already struggling economy. A migration crisis is threatened by instability in Cuba, according to experts.
(With Inputs From Reuters)
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