Fresh off the U.S. military operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, President Donald Trump turned his sights toward Havana early Sunday. In a blistering statement issued via Truth Social, the President warned Cuba’s communist leadership to strike a “deal” with the United States immediately or face a complete severance of oil and financial resources.
The ultimatum signals a potential aggressive shift in U.S. policy toward the island nation just days after the January 3 indictment and removal of Maduro, a key ally to the Cuban government.
“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO! I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” Trump wrote.
READ: ‘It’s Going To Happen’: Florida Sen. Rick Scott Predicts Fall Of Cuban Regime By Next Year
The President’s comments targeted the long-standing symbiotic relationship between the two socialist nations. For years, Venezuela has supplied Cuba with vital oil shipments; in exchange, Havana has provided intelligence and security services to Caracas. Trump declared that arrangement officially over, noting that the United States military would now be the sole guarantor of Venezuela’s security.
“Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela. In return, Cuba provided ‘Security Services’ for the last two Venezuelan dictators, BUT NOT ANYMORE!” Trump stated, referencing both Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chávez.
The warning comes amid confirmation of Cuban casualties during the recent U.S. operation in Venezuela. The Cuban government acknowledged that 32 of its citizens—comprised of military and intelligence personnel—were killed during the raid that secured Maduro’s capture. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has since condemned the U.S. operation as a “criminal assault” and “state terrorism.”
Trump addressed the casualties bluntly in his Sunday post, asserting that “most of those Cubans are DEAD,” characterizing the security forces as “thugs and extortionists.”
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While the President did not elaborate on the specific terms of the “deal” he is demanding, or the logistics of how the U.S. would enforce the blockade of resources, the rhetoric drew immediate support from Florida Republicans.
Representative Carlos Giménez, who was born in Havana and fled the country following the 1959 revolution, praised the move on social media platform X. “Thank you, President Trump, first Venezuela & next is Cuba,” Giménez wrote. “Our hemisphere must be the hemisphere of liberty!”
Rep. María Elvira Salazar, born in the U.S. to Cuban exiles, echoed those sentiments, warning the Cuban government that “the clock is ticking.” She noted that Havana’s survival strategy of “exporting repression” to nations like Venezuela and Nicaragua was coming to an end.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking shortly after the extraction of Maduro, highlighted the depth of Cuban involvement in Venezuela. He described Venezuelan intelligence agencies as being “full of Cubans” who had effectively “colonized” the nation’s security apparatus.
READ: ‘If I Lived In Havana, I Would Be Concerned’: Trump, Rubio Warn Cuba After Maduro Capture
“If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I’d be concerned,” Rubio noted during a January 3 press conference.
As of Sunday morning, the White House has not released further details regarding diplomatic channels with the Díaz-Canel administration or specific timelines for the proposed restrictions.
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