The Caribbean is getting crowded again. Just months after U.S. forces plucked Nicolas Maduro from power in Venezuela, the Trump administration is making it abundantly clear that Cuba is next on the list. And the military footprint is already growing.
According to AP reporting, the Pentagon announced Friday that a fresh unit of 1,300 sailors and Marines will be heading to the Caribbean, replacing the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit that deployed there last summer. This isn’t a massive invasion force, but it’s a clear signal that Washington isn’t bluffing.
The same day, General Francis Donovan, head of U.S. Southern Command, sat down with Cuban military officials near Guantanamo Bay for what both sides described as a “brief exchange on operational security matters.” The meeting happened at the U.S. naval base that Cuba has hated for decades, the one remaining relic of America’s once-extensive Caribbean presence.
The Cubans, for their part, tried to put a positive spin on it. Their Revolutionary Armed Forces said both sides “viewed the meeting positively because it addressed security issues along the perimeter separating the military enclave.” That’s diplomatic speak for: we talked about keeping things from getting out of hand.
But here’s what really tells the story. The Trump administration has already hit Cuba with an oil blockade, keeps warships prowling the Caribbean, and has actually indicted former President Raúl Castro on federal charges. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA chief John Ratcliffe have both been in the room with Cuban officials trying to find some path forward. The result? Even more sanctions.
The message from Washington seems to be simple: we’re not leaving, and we’re not backing down. Cuba’s socialist leadership, which has survived for decades through sheer stubbornness and Soviet-era alliances, now faces an American president who explicitly wants them gone.
What happens next is anyone’s guess. But if the Maduro operation was any indication, the U.S. military isn’t afraid to act. And with a new troop rotation heading to the region, the pressure is only going to mount.
