President Donald Trump on Friday suggested the United States could pursue what he described as a “friendly takeover” of Cuba, as relations between the two countries continue to deteriorate amid a tightening U.S. fuel blockade and recent military confrontations.
Speaking to reporters at the White House before departing for Texas, Trump said Cuban officials were in contact with Washington and facing severe economic hardship.
“The Cuban government is talking with us, and they’re in a big deal of trouble,” Trump said.
He added that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was leading discussions at a “very high level,” describing Cuba as a nation lacking money, oil and food, and asserting that its leaders “want our help.”
Tensions have accelerated in recent weeks as the United States moved to block virtually all oil shipments to the island, deepening strain on Cuba’s fossil fuel-dependent energy grid.
On January 11, Trump announced that Venezuelan oil and financial support would no longer flow to Cuba, and later issued an executive order threatening tariffs on countries supplying oil to the island.
The measures followed a U.S. operation last month that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a close Cuban ally.
Cuban forces this week killed four exiles and wounded six others who sailed into Cuban waters aboard a Florida-registered speedboat and opened fire on a patrol vessel.
Rubio denied the incident was a U.S. operation and said no American personnel were involved.
A panel of United Nations human rights experts described the fuel blockade as “an extreme form of unilateral economic coercion” that violated international law.
While Trump said Havana was engaged in discussions, the Cuban government has stated it is not in high-level talks with Washington.
Reports have indicated that U.S. officials met informally with Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, the grandson of former Cuban President Raul Castro, including on the sidelines of a regional summit in St. Kitts and Nevis.
The Trump administration has also announced $6 million in humanitarian aid to Cuba, to be distributed through intermediaries rather than the Cuban government.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has denounced Washington’s actions as an attempt “to strangle the Cuban economy” and said the island would defend its sovereignty against outside threats.