Washington, May 16 (SANA) US President Donald Trump described Cuba as a “failed nation,” expressing belief that Havana will ultimately seek an agreement with Washington amid ongoing economic andpolitical pressure imposed by the United States for more than six decades.
According to CNN, Trump said, “Cuba is a completely failed nation, and theywill have to come to us.”
The remarks came two days after John Ratcliffe, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), visited Cuba and held talks with senior officials in Havana. Discussions reportedly addressed intelligence cooperation, economic stability, and security issues, including ensuring that Cuba does not serve as a safe haven for adversaries in the Western Hemisphere.
Reuters cited a US intelligence official as saying Ratcliffe delivered a message from Trump indicating that the United States would engage seriously with Cuba on economic and security matters only if it undertakes “substantial changes.”
The official did not specify the nature of those changes, though Washington has long called on Cuba to open its state-controlled economy, hold what it describes as free and fair elections, and compensate for properties nationalized following the Cuban revolution.
Tensions between the two countries have escalated in recent months, particularly after Trump warned that Cuba could become a “next target” following developments in Venezuela earlier this year.
In response, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel described such statements as “dangerous and unprecedented,” affirming that Cuba would respond to any escalation with resistance.
Relations between the United States and Cuba have remained strained since the 1959 revolution that overthrew the US-backed government of Fulgencio Batista and established a socialist state aligned with the former Soviet Union. This was followed by decades of US sanctions beginning in the early 1960s, intensified after the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Cuba was also designated by the US State Department as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1982, citing its support for leftist movements in Latin America and Africa.
Despite a brief thaw during the administration of Barack Obama—who visited Cuba in 2016, the first such visit by a US president since 1928—and limited easing under Joe Biden, tensions have resurfaced and intensified during Trump’s presidency.
M.Q.R
