The US sends an aircraft carrier to the Caribbean and lowers expectations of an agreement with Cuba
China and Russia denounce Washington's pressure campaign on the island
BarcelonaThe United States is not easing its threat against Cuba. The day after indicting the former president and one of the leaders of the Cuban Revolution, Raul Castro, the US military has reported deploying a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the US "Nimitz", and a strike group in Caribbean waters. "Welcome to the Caribbean, Nimitz Carrier Strike Group!", the Southern Command, responsible for operations on the continent, wrote on X in a message threatening the "unmatched" reach and lethality of the deployed vessels.
This is the umpteenth show of force by the United States regarding Cuba, in a months-long pressure campaign. The culmination came this Wednesday, with the formal indictment of Castro, 94, on four counts of murder, for ordering the downing of a plane in 1996, in an incident in which four people died. On Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called him a "fugitive" from US justice and warned that if he represents any "threat to national security," "Trump has an obligation to address it." Rubio, of Cuban origin, downplayed the possibility of reaching an agreement with Cuba: "We continue to prefer this option – he said –. But if I have to be honest, the probability of that happening [...] is not very high".
The deployment of the US "Nimitz" recalls the move made by the US Navy last November in the Caribbean when it deployed the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford, as a warning message directed at Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. The gesture further escalated tensions with Maduro (who deployed 200,000 soldiers) and was the prelude to the military operation that would culminate in his extraction and detention. However, Trump has denied that the deployment of the ship off Cuba has any intimidating objective.
Miguel Díaz-Canel, warned a few days ago that there would be "a bloodbath" if the United States decided to invade the islandThis same Thursday, the US Supreme Court has also made a move in this direction: it has issued a ruling in favor of a North American port company that Fidel Castro confiscated in the 1960s. The company alleged that cruise operators had used docks that belonged to them – because they built them before the Cuban Revolution – without paying any compensation. Now the ruling opens the door to similar lawsuits by other North American companies and citizens.
Condemnation of China and Russia
Gestures like these are viewed with disapproval from Beijing. China has not minced words and has warned that it opposes the US murder accusations against the former Cuban president. "The United States should stop using sanctions and the judicial system as tools of oppression against Cuba and refrain from making threats of force at any time," Chinese government spokesman Guo Jiakun stated at a press conference this Thursday, clearly defending that Beijing "supports Cuba".
Russia, for its part, has denounced that the United States is tightening "the noose of sanctions" around Cuba. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov assures that the pressure on Cuba is "intolerable" and rejects the use of "methods of violence against former or current heads of state".
As the White House raises its tone, the alert level of the Cuban regime increases, preparing to defend itself from a possible American attack, according to the little information that arrives. In fact, the current president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, warned a few days ago that there would be "a bloodbath" if the United States decided to invade the island. Despite his advanced age and the absence of any formal political office, Castro wields enormous influence within the decisions of the Cuban executive and enjoys the prestige of the country's revolutionary leader. Almost all high-ranking political and military officials have been personally chosen by Castro, and his successor as president and first secretary of the communist party, Díaz-Canel, maintains that all important decisions are made by him. Therefore, it is easy to think that any decisive move by the United States against him could lead to a confrontation.