President Donald Trump says US is discussing a ‘friendly takeover’ of Cuba

On February 24, the Mexican Government dispatched two military ships carrying nearly 1200 tonnes of supplies to Cuba, its second shipment to the island nation, which is mired in a deep economic crisis and under intense pressure from the United States. Photo / Mexican Foreign Ministry via AFP

US President Donald Trump today suggested a “friendly takeover” of communist-led Cuba, with tensions high between Washington and Havana after the US toppling of Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro.

The Trump administration has imposed a strict oil embargo on Cuba since ousting Havana’s key regional backer, bringing the island nation to the brink of economic collapse.

“They have no money, they have no anything right now. But they’re talking with us and maybe we’ll have a friendly takeover of Cuba,” Trump told reporters as he departed the White House.

“The Cuban Government is talking with us, and they’re in a big deal of trouble,” he said.

Cuba has been under a US trade embargo since shortly after Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution. Relations thawed in recent years but have plunged again since Trump took office for his second term, with the US President seeking to tighten Washington’s grip on Latin America.

Yesterday, the Cuban coastguard said it had killed four people and wounded six others aboard a US-registered speedboat that it said were armed and seeking to infiltrate the country.

Havana said all those on board the US boat were Cubans living in the United States, which has received several waves of emigration from the island since the 1960s.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed only that one US citizen was killed and another wounded in the incident.

Cuban authorities said a coastguard vessel came under fire from the speedboat around one nautical mile from Cuba’s north shore, adding that assault rifles, handguns, Molotov cocktails and military-style gear were found onboard.

The response from the United States Government was muted.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was on a Caribbean visit, said Washington was conducting its own investigation and would “respond accordingly”.

– Agence France-Presse