Trump Growing Increasingly Frustrated the Cuban Government Hasn’t Crumbled Under US Pressure: Report

Associated Press

President Donald Trump has grown “increasingly frustrated” that the Cuban government hasn’t crumbled under U.S. pressure, and is considering taking military action to topple the communist regime, NBC News reported Monday.

U.S. officials have told Trump that the regime, led by Miguel Díaz-Canel, “could still fall by the end of the year” without military intervention, but the president isn’t willing to wait that long, according to NBC News White House reporter Katherine Doyle.

Trump’s hurried timeline has prompted the Pentagon to ramp up planning for possible military action against the island nation, Doyle reported.

Doyle wrote that when asked for comment, “the White House pointed to Secretary [Marco] Rubio’s remarks that the Cuban regime had rejected $100 million in humanitarian aid offered by the U.S.”

She added that “In separate comments last week, Rubio called it ‘an unacceptable status quo’ that the U.S. has, ’90 miles from our shores, a failed state that also happens to be friendly territory for some of our adversaries.’”

The Trump administration has tried to force regime change through a “maximum pressure” campaign that included restricted oil shipments  and increased sanctions, but Díaz-Canel has held fast despite the resulting fuel shortages and power blackouts.

“Cuba has an economy that doesn’t work and a political and governmental system that can’t fix it. So they have to change dramatically,” Rubio said in March. “They’ve got some big decisions to make over there.”

In April, Díaz-Canel told NBC News’ Kristen Welker that he’s willing to give his life “for the revolution” if it comes to that.

“If the time comes, I don’t think there would be any justification for the United States to launch a military aggression against Cuba, or for the U.S. to undertake a surgical operation, like the kidnapping of a president,” Díaz-Canel said, referring to the U.S. ouster of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro four months ago.

“If that happens, there will be fighting and there will be a struggle. And we’ll defend ourselves. And if we need to die, we’ll die, because as our national anthem says, ‘Dying for the homeland is to live,’” Díaz-Canel said.

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