Cuba's president Miguel Diaz-Canel says the United States is considering three scenarios for its pressure campaign against Cuba: fomenting social unrest, assuming control of the economy or launching a military campaign. The United States has pressured several foreign businesses in recent weeks to halt their activities in Cuba by threatening sanctions.
The Trump administration indicted RaĂșl Castro for murder on May 20, 2026, based on the downing of two planes near the Cuban coastline in 1996 that killed four people. The last U.S. indictment of a Latin American leader was in January 2026. Since January, the United States has ended the flow of Venezuelan oil to Cuba and used economic and military pressure to prevent other nations from trading with the island.
On Thursday, the United States tightened its sanctions on Cuba by including President Miguel DĂaz-Canel and some members of his family, along with a number of members of the Castro family. The list of names targeted by the sanctions included a son and grandson of former President Raul Castro (95 years old), who no longer holds an official position but remains a key figure in decision-making related to the future of Cuba. Washington has imposed a blockade on Cuba for decades, but Donald Trump has increased pressure on the island in recent months.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth visited the US military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Wednesday. He warned Cuba not to buy new military weapons as it could invite a confrontation with the United States. He didn't offer specifics about the type of weaponry Cuba might want to buy. The US has been increasing its military presence in the Caribbean Sea since last year.
In the 1990s, when I covered Cuba as a correspondent, I had mixed feelings about the situation there. I felt sympathy for the Cuban people because so much of this seemed unnecessary. Today, we are seeing the ways in which Cubans are being made to pay dearly for their government's failure to push its economic modelâs evolution back in an era when opportunity was at hand.
The US Treasury has imposed sanctions on Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel. The measures are part of Washington's efforts to raise pressure on Cuba's leadership. Washington claims that Cubaâs communist regime threatens US security. President Donald Trump has been threatening to take military action against Cuba since abducting Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in January.
In 1960, Cuba took its docks, sugar and power back from American owners. This May, Washington indicted Raul Castro over the 1996 Brothers to the Rescue shootdown, sailed an aircraft carrier into the Caribbean and won Supreme Court backing for claims over confiscated property. The US embargo, begun under Eisenhower and tightened under Kennedy, is older than most Cubans alive today. The Foreign Claims Settlement Commission has held its 5,913 certified claims worth $1.9bn in principal and some $9bn with interest since the 1960s.
Cuba's top diplomat to the U.S. Lianys Torres Rivera says the sanctions against Cuba's leaders are a pretext to persuade the American people to support a military intervention. She says the situation in Cuba is "a war without bombs" and that the sanctions have resulted in economic hardship for ordinary Cubans.
Children in Cuba are dying because of acute shortages of essential medical supplies caused by US-imposed economic sanctions, says UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk. The island nation has endured daily blackouts and severe fuel deficits in recent months after Venezuela stopped crude shipments under pressure from the US. Infant mortality in Cuba has doubled to 9.9 per 1,000 births, with childhood cancer survival rates down from 85% to 65%.
Jingan Technology uses artificial intelligence and data analytics to analyse national security and defence challenges. It based its assessment on the ârhythmâ of US military deployments around Cuba and on political cycles. The potential summer window was constrained by high uncertainty in the US-Iran war, which could divert US military resources to the Middle East.