WASHINGTON (AP) — The top U.S. commander in Latin America met with Cuban military leaders Friday in a “brief exchange on operational security matters” near the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, the latest official to visit the island nation as President Donald Trump ramps up pressure on its leaders.
Trump has warned that Cuba “is next” after U.S. military forces captured Venezuela’s autocratic leader, Nicolás Maduro, in a January raid. In the months since, the Trump administration has imposed an oil blockade on Cuba, maintained warships in the Caribbean Sea and indicted former Cuban President Raúl Castro on federal charges.
Gen. Francis Donovan, head of U.S. Southern Command, met with Lt. Gen. Roberto Legrá Sotolongo and other Cuban military officials.
Cuba’s Revolutionary Armed Forces said in a statement that both sides viewed “the meeting positively because it addressed security issues along the perimeter separating the military enclave, and they agreed to maintain communication between the two military commands.”
Top Trump aides, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA chief John Ratcliffe, also have met with Cuban officials to explore possible improvements in relations. But the U.S. side has come away unimpressed from those talks, leading to even more sanctions imposed on the Cuban government.
