After Greenland, another island seems to have entered Donald Trump's objectives, this time in the Caribbean Sea: the US president has announced that he is considering the possibility of a "friendly purchase" of Cuba. Tensions with Havana remain very high after the incident of interference with an American civilian vessel, detained on Wednesday by the Cuban authorities - the latest episode in an endless conflict that, amid the embargo and sanctions, "is pushing the island towards collapse", according to the latest UN report.
"The Cuban government is talking to us and, as you know, they have very big problems. They have no money, they have nothing at the moment, but they are communicating with us and maybe we will see a friendly acquisition of Cuba," the tycoon told reporters as he left the White House for a trip to Texas.
The US leader did not provide further details on what is being presented as another front in his aggressive foreign policy doctrine. That the US and Cuba have been in discussions has been confirmed several times in recent days by media outlets such as Axios, which last week reported on secret contacts between Marco Rubio and Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, nephew and guardian of the island's former leader, Raúl Castro.
Rodriguez Castro is not part of the government, but is considered an influential figure on the island. According to Axios, the contacts have served to bypass official Cuban channels for what “I wouldn’t call so much ‘negotiations’ as ‘discussions’ about the future,” as a senior Trump administration official put it.
The contacts were immediately denied by Havana, but the Miami Herald contributed to further fueling the rumors this week, according to which US officials close to the Secretary of State met with Rodríguez Castro on Wednesday as part of the CARICOM summit in the archipelago of Saint Kitts and Nevis, which Rubio himself also attended. It was during this summit that Rubio declared that Cuba must “fundamentally change.” Trump’s latest words seem to indicate that Washington is actively working towards this objective.
