Trump: "Cuba is Next"

Latin America Correspondent Jon Bonfiglio speaks to Olly Mann for Times Radio.

Transcript

Olly Mann 0:00

Here's something that happened earlier this evening. Donald Trump gave a lengthy press conference. It was one of the weird ones where there was a football team around him in this instance, and he veered narratively around from talking about progress in Iran to talking about the Miami football team. But here's something that he said, which just I sort of caught out the corner of my ear, if that's the thing. As he was talking about demolishing Tehran, as he was talking about his forces hitting Iranian targets far ahead of schedule, almost a sort of brief aside to Marco Rubio, his Secretary of State, Donald Trump said this about Cuba.

Donald Trump 0:34

What's happening with Cuba is amazing. And we think that we want to finish this one first, but that will be just a question of time before you and a lot of unbelievable people are going to be going back to Cuba, hopefully not to stay.

Olly Mann 1:01

Is Cuba gonna have an intervention from the United States like Venezuela did, like Iran is? Let's discuss this now with our Latin American correspondent Jon Bonfiglio. Hi there, Jon. What is the situation in Cuba at the moment? Because it's difficult to get information out of there. There was a power cut on Wednesday.

Jon Bonfiglio 1:21

Yeah, huge national power cut. Again, um exacerbating, accentuating their need for oil and their failing infrastructure. Uh grid, of course. Uh Cuba, um, pretty well known by this stage of the game, is is on a precipice at a very difficult moment in time. And it's pretty clear that uh, I mean, basically, as Trump, Donald Trump has said, that um it is next in in line that the the American expansionist um gaze is very much on the island, which it regards in many ways as being uh the jewel in the crown of potential acquisitions, given the fact that it's been a thought inside of the US politically, ideologically for a long period of time. Um there are back channel communications taking place between Cuban officials, and in particular Raul Castro's grandson at the moment, and US um US administration officials as well. And what Trump suggested with the uh with his comments today is that he the yeah, communications are ongoing and that Cuba will step into line soon rather than later. But given the fact that he said almost exactly the same thing before the US started bombing Iran, um it's difficult to know what's what's coming up.

Olly Mann 2:32

Okay, so if something similar, uh or something in between, let's say, what happened in Venezuela and what's happening in Iran was to before Cuba scene, uh, what would you predict if the leader was removed?

Jon Bonfiglio 2:42

So I think there's a number of interesting things which have happened on the fringes, um, which which sort of reveal, which tell a story. One of those is the fact that in the last couple of days, Florida has re-initiated a probe into the 1996 shooting of four planes manned by Cuban exiles over the the island, for which they hold Raul Castro, brother of Fidel Castro, uh, responsible. Now, why is this obscure event um interesting 30 years on? Uh because it seems as though the US is using that event to generate cause and argument for intervention, specifically to tar to paint Raul Castro and to target him in the same way as they did Nicolas Maduro. So to give um a rationale, a public reasoning for which um the US military need to go into Cuba and behead um behead the um the administration um there. The other thing I'd say, which is also interesting, which took place in the last 24 hours, um slightly on a tangent but relevant nonetheless, is that um there was there was a mining um announcement between the US and Venezuela, which said that they would be working together to expedite mining infrastructure and concessions in the country. Now, this may seem as though it's a completely different country altogether, but actually it's not an accident because it also reaffirms the Trump administration's acquisitive intentions uh for the Americas. And then the third thing I would bring up is that today, at the inaugural America's Counter-Cartel Conference in Florida, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and White House advisor Stephen Miller both reaffirmed that they would, and I quote, not cede an inch of territory in this hemisphere to enemies or adversaries, and that they would, and again, I quote, um, use hard power, military power, and lethal force to achieve those objectives. One of the staggering things about this administration is they are not hiding what their forthcoming moves are.

Olly Mann 4:34

Yeah. And actually, I mean, I've got 30 seconds left with you, Jon, before the news. So quickly if you can, but I mean, I remember just looking back through my mental history here, when there's a power vacuum in Cuba, refugees turn up in Florida.

Jon Bonfiglio 4:49

Yes, yes, it may seem to be uh seem to be counterproductive. Um Donald Trump, of course, has said that he he he he's demanding a hand in whoever the next Iranian leader is, and presumably, I mean he's already done that in Venezuela. Presumably, that is what he's looking for in Cuba, also is for not to be for it not to be an autonomous country, but for it to be a sort of a quasi vassal state of the United States.

Olly Mann 5:11

All right. Latin America correspondent Jon Bonfiglio Thanks so much for joining us with that update.