Following Successful Removal of Maduro From Venezuela, Trump Turns His Eyes to Cuba

After the successful removal of President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, President Trump is turning his attention to Cuba, which he says needs to make a deal with him in order to avoid a fate similar to that of Mr. Maduro. As part of that pressure campaign, Mr. Trump says the Cubans will not receive any more oil from Venezuela. The president and his staff have been reveling in the new “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine in recent days, which states that Mr. Trump has the right to intervene across the western hemisphere if it serves America’s interests. The Cuban government is the latest target of that policy. “Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela. In return, Cuba provided ‘Security Services’ for the last two Venezuelan dictators, BUT NOT ANYMORE!” Mr. Trump declared on Truth Social on Sunday. He noted that dozens of Cubans were killed in the recent raid which saw Mr. Maduro captured. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will. THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA — ZERO!” the president wrote. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.”The president also shared a message from an X user who said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would soon be the president of Cuba — a reference to the long-running joke about Mr. Rubio’s many responsibilities leading the State Department, the National Security Council, and the National Archives. “Sounds good to me!” Mr. Trump wrote Sunday, endorsing Mr. Rubio for the Cuban presidency. He shared a second message from a separate X user who wrote that toppling the Cuban government would be an “indescribable dream.”Other social media posts he shared Sunday include one from an X user who said Cuba’s political situation could be “reversed” this year and another from conservative opinion writer Marc Thiessen, who pontificated about Mr. Trump being able to end the “streak” of communists controlling Cuba. The president quickly received support from Cuban-American members of Congress from south Florida, who have enthusiastically backed his move to topple Mr. Maduro. “I repeat what I have said on numerous occasions: we are witnessing what, I am convinced, will be the beginning of the end of the regime in Havana,” Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, the dean of the Florida congressional delegation, wrote on X Sunday morning. “The tyranny in Cuba will not survive the second term of President Trump, and Cuba will finally be free after decades of misery, tragedy, and pain.”Congressman Carlos Gimenez, another Cuban-American lawmaker who represents Miami-Dade County, shared similar messages, saying that the Cuban government would be “next” to fall after Mr. Maduro’s ouster. “My advice for the leaders of the Havana Cartel is very simple: Don’t make the same mistake that Nicolás Maduro did. There’s no need for that,” Mr. Gimenez wrote. “Get out before it’s too late because the USA has the capability to wipe you all out in a matter of minutes.”A third lawmaker, Congresswoman María Salazar, also endorsed a potential regime change operation in Cuba. “The Cuban regime loves to talk about sovereignty while exporting repression to survive: sending mercenaries to Russia to fight in Ukraine for money and dispatching secret police thugs to Venezuela in exchange for oil,” she wrote Sunday morning. “The Cuban regime’s record of exporting repression is immense. But it’s over.”Senator Lindsey Graham has been one of Mr. Trump’s most ardent cheerleaders in recent days following the Venezuela operation, saying multiple times that he hopes to see a number of governments — from Cuba to Iran — fall in the coming weeks. On Sunday, he urged Cuban officials to find “a new place to live.”Mr. Graham also defended Mr. Trump’s unilateral actions in Venezuela during an interview with Fox Business. In the coming days, Congress is expected to vote on a War Powers Resolution to restrict any additional actions by Mr. Trump in Venezuela. “There’s never been a court case in the history of the country where a military operation was terminated by the Supreme Court because Congress didn’t approve,” Mr. Graham said. “We can’t have a situation where Congress becomes commander-in-chief.”

Following Successful Removal of Maduro From Venezuela, Trump Turns His Eyes to Cuba

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