Almost a week into the war being waged by the US and Israel on Iran, US President Donald Trump has hinted Cuba will be next in his sights — but to make a deal.
Mr Trump suggested the US may begin negotiations with the communist government of Cuba in coming weeks, saying "they want to make a deal so badly".
The US president was hosting a White House function in Washington DC with the Inter Miami Major League Soccer team on Thursday, local time, when he told the club's American-Cuban joint owners that they may soon "be going back to Cuba".
"We think we want to finish this one [the war in Iran] first, but that will just be a question of time before you and a lot of unbelievable people are going to be going back," Mr Trump said.
"I wanted to wait a couple of weeks but we'll be together again soon, I suspect, celebrating what's going on in Cuba.
"They want to make a deal so badly, you have no idea."
Mr Trump then directed comments towards US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, suggesting his next focus would be on the Caribbean nation.
"Your next one's going to be — we want to do that special — Cuba," Mr Trump said.
"He says, 'let's get this one finished first'. We could do them all at the same time but bad things happen.
"If you watch countries over the years, [if] you do them all too fast, bad things happen."
Cuba in the midst of crisis
Mr Trump's comments came after he said "Cuba's going to fall" in an interview published earlier by the US-based Politico outlet.
While Cuba has struggled for years with an aging electricity grid and intermittent fuel supplies, the country has endured a rapidly growing energy crisis in recent months after US forces attacked Venezuela and captured its leader Nicolás Maduro.
In the weeks after that military operation, Mr Trump authorised a halt of oil shipments from Venezuela to Cuba and threatened to impose tariffs on any country that sold the resource to the Caribbean nation.
[Cuba MAP]"We cut off all oil, all money, or we cut off everything coming in from Venezuela, which was the sole source, and they want to make a deal," Mr Trump said in the interview.
"They need help. We are talking to Cuba."
Mr Trump did not clarify his comments at the White House, which came a week after he said a "friendly takeover" of Cuba might be possible.
The US Treasury Department announced late in February that it would authorise private companies seeking licences to resell Venezuelan oil stocks to Cuban companies as long as they abided by transaction guidance to "support the Cuban people".
Oil sales that financially benefited the Cuban military or other government institutions would not be allowed, the department said.
The country's declining energy reserves have contributed to a worsening humanitarian situation that poses risks to Cuba's health care, water services and food distribution, according to the United Nations resident coordinator in Cuba, Francisco Pichón.
The UN said more than two million Cubans were impacted by the fallout from Hurricane Melissa in October which collapsed houses, blocked roads and left 735,000 people stranded in emergency shelters.
At least five million Cubans live with chronic illnesses that require treatment reliant on a stable electricity supply, and about 10 per cent of the country's population only has access to drinking water from electric-pumped tanker trucks, the UN said.
"The risk to people's lives is not rhetorical," Mr Pichón told reporters in New York on Wednesday.
"Those who suffer first and suffer most are ordinary people, especially the most vulnerable."
The World Health Organization's Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) described the situation as "a socio-economic crisis exacerbated by converging disasters".
At least 385 health facilities have reported varying levels of disaster or energy-related damage, seven provinces are experiencing severe water shortages, and the country is being impacted by an epidemic of the dengue and Oropouche viruses, PAHO said.
Large swathes of the country remained without power on Thursday, local time, after a huge blackout occurred that was blamed on a fragile electricity grid and lack of fuel reserves.
State media outlets said almost one in three households in the Cuban capital, Havana, had their power cut off, despite connections to 43 hospitals and 10 water supply stations remaining online, the Associated Press reported.
Diplomatic disaster on Cuba's doorstep
While domestic conditions worsen, Cuba also faces heightened levels of pressure from abroad.
On Wednesday, local time, Ecuador announced the Cuban ambassador there would be declared persona non grata and would be required to leave within 48 hours.
Ecuador's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not say why they were forcing Basilio Antonio Gutiérrez and other diplomats to leave.
Shortly after the announcement, a man was seen on the roof of the Cuban embassy in the capital Quito burning papers.
The Cuban government rejected the decision, describing it as an "unfriendly and unprecedented act that significantly damages the historic relations of friendship and cooperation between both countries."
Ecuador and Cuba have maintained bilateral relations since 1960.
The decision followed an executive order signed by Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa in which he cancelled the diplomatic duties of Ecuador's ambassador to Cuba, José María Borja, without explanation.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said in a post on X that it seemed like "no coincidence" that Ecuador expelled Cuba's diplomatic staff at the same time the US was piling pressure on Havana and other governments in the region.
Ecuador is not the only regional neighbour that has taken recent action against Cuba.
On Wednesday, local time, more than 150 Cuban medical staff departed Honduras after the country's newly elected right-wing government cancelled an agreement first brokered in 2024 to accept the services of Cuban doctors as an act of diplomacy.
The 168 medical workers flew to Havana after the Honduran government said the program did not meet requirements established by internal regulators.
Honduran officials have dismissed claims the country cancelled the program under pressure from the Trump administration, which had criticised the deal.
In Jamaica on Thursday a similar medical cooperation agreement came to an end.
The country's foreign ministry announced it was unable to reach an agreement with Cuba to allow about 300 Cuban doctors and medical professionals to work on the island.
Guatemala and the Bahamas have also signalled they will look to cancel medical professional contracts with Cuba after discussions with the US government.
On Tuesday, 10 Panamanian citizens were arrested in Havana accused of fabricating damaging propaganda against Cuba.
Cuban authorities allege the group was paid up to $US1,500 ($2,131) to enter the country "with the purpose of making signs with subversive content, contrary to the constitutional order".
Six days earlier, six other Cubans known to be living in the US were charged with "crimes of terrorism" after a speedboat in Cuban waters allegedly opened fire on a border guard vessel.
The Cuban government said the 10 heavily armed individuals opened fire as they tried to infiltrate the island to commit acts of terrorism. It said Cuban soldiers returned fire, killing five suspects.
Mr Trump is scheduled to meet with mostly right-wing Latin American leaders, including Mr Noboa, at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Saturday.
Among the guests will be Argentinian President Javier Milei, Chilean president-elect Jose Antonio Kast and El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele — whose security crackdown is seen as a model for many in the region.
ABC/Wires
