Washington: US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio intensified pressure on Cuba, describing the island nation as a failed state and a continuing national security threat to the United States.
Speaking separately in Florida and at the White House, both officials signalled a tougher posture towards Havana while also leaving open the possibility of a negotiated settlement.
Trump, responding to questions about Cuba during an Oval Office event on deregulation, said the United States wanted to help the Cuban people and Cuban Americans reconnect with the island.
“It’s a failed country. Everybody knows it. They don’t have electricity. They don’t have money. They don’t have really anything they don’t have food,” Trump said.
“We’re going to help them along and we’re going to help them because the people — because, number one, I want to help them, you know, on a humanitarian basis,” he added.
Trump said Cuban Americans in Florida wanted to invest in and rebuild Cuba.
“They want to go back to their country. They want to help their country. I hope they’re going to stay here, but they want to go back,” he said.
He added: “Other presidents have looked at this for 50, 60 years, doing something, and it looks like I’ll be the one that does it.”
Hours earlier, Rubio had delivered a far sharper assessment during remarks to reporters at Miami Homestead Airport before departing for India.
“Cuba has consistently posed a threat to the national security of the United States,” Rubio said. “The other thing that poses a threat to the national security of the United States is to have a failed state 90 miles from our shores run by friends of our adversaries.”
Rubio said Cuba hosted “Russian and Chinese intelligence presence” and had acquired weapons systems from both countries over the years.
He also accused Havana of supporting destabilising groups in Latin America.
“They have been one of the leading sponsors of terrorism in the entire region,” Rubio said.
The administration’s concerns were echoed by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who warned that Cuba could become a platform for hostile actors close to American territory.
“You could have an adversary of the United States send, for example, attack drones to Cuba that would then be within very short reach of the United States Territory and its citizens,” Miller said during a White House gaggle.
“We can’t have a foothold for enemies, adversaries, or terrorists that close to American territory,” he added.
Rubio said Washington was prepared to provide humanitarian assistance to Cuba, but only through independent groups and not through Cuban military-linked entities.
“We’re prepared to do more, but it has to be distributed by groups that are not linked to the regime,” he said.
He accused Cuba’s military-linked company GAESA of diverting resources meant for ordinary citizens.
Rubio also dismissed suggestions that the administration was pursuing “nation building”.
“The future of Cuba belongs to the people of Cuba in terms of how they’re governed,” he said. “But the national security component, that’s 100 per cent something we’re going to focus on because that’s about America.”
The Trump administration has steadily tightened its Cuba policy in recent months through sanctions, criminal indictments and diplomatic pressure. Cuba has also faced worsening economic conditions, rolling blackouts and shortages of food and fuel over the past several years.
(IANS)
