Trump: ‘Maybe we’ll have a friendly takeover of Cuba’

Donald Trump has hinted that contacts between Washington and Havana could result in a “friendly takeover” of Cuba by the United States. The U.S. president’s statements come amid tensions over Washington’s blockade on fuel supplies to the island and while, as Trump himself has acknowledged, talks are underway between representatives of the two countries.

Speaking as he boarded Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House to travel to Texas, the U.S. president issued his first comments on Cuba since Tuesday’s incident in the island’s waters, in which Cuban Coast Guard officers opened fire on the crew of a boat from Florida that was heading for its shores. Four of the crew members were killed and the remaining six were wounded.

Asked about the situation in Cuba, the president replied that his country could decide on a “friendly takeover of Cuba.” “The Cuban government is talking with us. They’re in a big deal of trouble, as you know. They have no money, no anything right now,” he said. “Maybe we’ll have a friendly takeover of Cuba. We could very well end up having a friendly takeover Cuba.”

Since the U.S. military operation that captured Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela on January 3, Trump has repeatedly reiterated his opinion that the Cuban regime is about to fall, given that it can no longer count on the oil and economic aid provided by Caracas, which had been its lifeline during the worst economic crisis the island has experienced in decades.

Trump has also imposed an energy blockade on Havana, threatening secondary tariffs on countries that supply oil to the Castroist regime.

But the Republican has repeatedly ruled out the possibility of a military intervention in Cuba similar to the one carried out in Venezuela. He claims that there are contacts between the two countries, led by his Secretary of State Marco Rubio, although Havana has not confirmed that any talks are taking place.

In his statements Friday, Trump hinted that these talks have an economic component and that they may favor the interests of Cuban exiles living in Florida, a key electoral bloc for his Republican party.

“They are in big trouble and we could very well do something good, I think, very positive for the people that were expelled, or worse, from Cuba, that live here. You know we have people living here that want to go back to Cuba,” Trump added.

According to the Republican, “Cuba, to put it mildly, is a failing nation [...] Marco Rubio is dealing on it, and at a very high level. And you know, they have no money, they have no oil, they have no food. And it’s really right now a nation in deep trouble, and they want our help.”

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition