in brief
- Unverified reports have claimed that Cuba has acquired drones and could be planning an attack on US soil.
- Cuba has denied the reports, saying the country "neither threatens nor desires war".
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has warned that any United States military action against the island would trigger a "bloodbath" with consequences for regional peace and stability.
His comments on Tuesday came after Axios reported on Sunday, citing classified intelligence, that Cuba had acquired more than 300 military drones and discussed plans to use them to attack US military assets.
Cuba has rejected the allegations, accusing the US of fabricating a case to justify possible military intervention.
Relations between the two countries have deteriorated sharply in recent days following a US indictment of a former Cuban leader, as the latter endures increasing economic hardship.
Accusations and indictments
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Reports of drones in Cuba could serve as a pretext for US military action, Axios reported, and reflect the extent to which the Trump administration views Cuba as a growing threat due to advances in drone warfare and the presence of Iranian military advisers in the capital Havana.
A senior US official told Axios the developments had heightened concerns in Washington.
Cuba has faced mounting economic strain since the US cut off its energy supplies following the January arrest of Nicolás Maduro, the president of its ally Venezuela.
Fuel shortages have worsened in recent weeks, and electricity is reportedly available for only one or two hours a day in many areas.
Reuters news agency reported last week, citing a US Department of Justice source, that prosecutors planned to indict former Cuban leader Raúl Castro over Cuba's 1996 shooting down of two planes operated by a humanitarian group.
Foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez defended Cuba's position in a social media post, saying the country, "like every nation in the world", has the right to legitimate self-defence against external aggression under the United Nations Charter and international law.
"Cuba neither threatens nor desires war," he said.
An indictment of Castro, 94, the brother of late revolutionary leader Fidel Castro and a central figure in the 1959 Cuban Revolution, would mark a significant escalation in pressure on Cuba by the Trump administration.
What is Donald Trump hoping to achieve?
John Hart, a US politics expert and a member of the emeritus faculty at the Australian National University, told SBS News the US blocking of energy imports into Cuba is a "humanitarian disaster" with "no logic or rationality".
Discerning US President Donald Trump's strategy regarding the island is difficult, as, unlike his previous efforts to control Greenland, Cuba offers very little in terms of natural resources or strategic value.
"It seems to me that a lot of his (Trump's) talk about Cuba right now is trying to generate some sort of distraction from domestic issues in the US," he said.
Hart said that Trump's focus on international issues in Europe and the Middle East, namely his strikes against Iran, has caused a breakdown in his support base.
"He made specific commitments in the election campaign that he wasn't going to get involved in foreign wars, that he was going to focus on what the United States needed," he said.
"A lot of people think he's gone back on that."
Attempting to justify launching strikes in conjunction with Israel that killed the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei on 1 March, Trump said "Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime".
New US sanctions on Cuba
The US Treasury Department announced on Monday that the US had imposed sanctions on nine Cuban officials, including the communications minister, several military leaders, and Cuba's directorate of intelligence.
The sanctions are part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to intensify pressure on Cuba's government, including moves to restrict oil shipments from Venezuela and Mexico to the island.
The administration has described Cuba's communist-run government as corrupt and incompetent and has openly pushed for regime change.
"But as he's demonstrated in Iran, he's got very little understanding of what it takes to achieve regime change in a society," Hart concluded, adding that Cuba also lacks a clear alternative non-communist leader.
Trump has increased pressure on the island by threatening sanctions on countries supplying Cuba with fuel, a policy that has contributed to widespread power outages and further weakened the economy.
Russia said on Monday it remained in constant contact with Cuba's leadership to explore ways to ease the impact of the US oil blockade on the Caribbean nation.
The blockade has tightened supplies across the island, leading to strict rationing and causing petrol and diesel prices to nearly double last week.
Havana has not received an oil shipment since the Russian tanker Anatoly Kolodkin delivered about 700,000 barrels in late March, an amount estimated to cover only a few weeks of demand for the island's 10 million residents.
The two nations have had strong historical ties, dating back to the USSR and the 1960s, when the Soviet Union economically propped up Cuba's newly established revolutionary government.
But since the USSR's dissolution in the 1990s, Russia's support of Cuba has been more sporadic.
Can Cuba retaliate?
Dr Mark Rolfe, a lecturer in the School of Social Sciences at the University of NSW, said that Cuba has few cards to play in the face of US aggression and a hamstrung Russia at war in Ukraine.
"There are still ties between the two countries — Cuban mercenaries fighting in the Ukraine-Russia war, military hardware like drones for Cuba," he said.
"Russia keeps the ties to annoy the Americans, and because their loss would be a strategic blow to Russian prestige."
But the Russians can’t help as much as they used to, and the relatively weak Cuban military would not "have much effect" against the US, according to Rolfe.
But Cuba could likely sit tight and wait out any further US sanctions or threats.
"Cuba could rally patriotism and sacrifice amongst the people against the Americans, hunker down, and try to wait them out in tandem with the Iranians, while the world becomes even more frustrated and antagonistic towards the Trump administration and the mid-terms eventually roll by," Rolfe said.
The 2026 midterms elections are scheduled to be held, in large part, on 3 November, and will determine congressional numbers for the final two years of Trump's presidency.
Additional reporting by the Reuters News Agency.
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