US Strengthens Economic Pressure on Cuba Instead of Military Action, Focuses on Cutting Regime Funding

Military Action Like Maduro's Arrest No Longer a Priority as U.S. Ramps Up Sanctions, Cutting Off Oil Supplies
Cuba Protests, Calling U.S. Sanctions "Collective Extermination"
Trump Keeps the Door Open to Possible Use of Force

On August 14 (local time), Bloomberg News reported that the United States is leaning towards strengthening economic pressure rather than conducting military operations against Cuba.

Associated Press Yonhap News

According to Bloomberg, military operations or special forces deployments such as those used to arrest Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January were pushed down the list of priorities. At the time, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested that Cuba could be next and hinted at the possibility of military action, but as the war with Iran drags on, experts now see a military attack on Cuba as increasingly unlikely.

This appears to be due to President Trump's reluctance to deploy U.S. ground forces and the unclear potential benefits of military action. Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State leading the U.S. policy on Cuba, also recently toned down his statements regarding the Cuban regime, saying, "We must not think that a communist regime that has lasted for 70 years can be uprooted overnight and wholly replaced with something new."

Instead, the U.S. is seeking to induce internal splits within the Cuban regime by blocking funds flowing to the government and military. Since the early 1960s, the U.S. has maintained a trade embargo on Cuba; in May, it imposed sanctions on military-run conglomerates, and in July, it added the Ministry of Tourism to the sanctions list. More recently, the U.S. has also moved to cut off oil supplies.

As a result, Cuba is experiencing repeated blackouts, with worsening shortages of food and medicine. The Cuban government is strongly protesting these measures, likening U.S. sanctions to "collective extermination," and maintains that while negotiations with the U.S. are possible, the nation's political system is not up for discussion.

However, the Trump Administration has not completely ruled out the use of force. The State Department stated, "President Trump has a variety of options," and affirmed that every means will be used to respond to national security threats posed by the Cuban communist regime.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.