U.S. commander meets with Cuban military officials

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top U.S. commander in Latin America met with Cuban military leaders Friday in a “brief exchange on operational security matters” near the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, the latest official to visit the island nation as President Donald Trump steps up pressure on its leaders.

Trump warned that Cuba “will be next” after US military forces captured Venezuela’s autocratic leader Nicolás Maduro in a raid in January. In the months that followed, the Trump administration imposed an oil blockade on Cuba, kept warships in the Caribbean Sea and indicted former Cuban President Raúl Castro on federal charges.

Gen. Francis Donovan, head of the U.S. Southern Command, met with Lt. Gen. Roberto Legrá Sotolongo and other Cuban military officials.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba said in a statement that both sides viewed “the meeting positively because it addressed security issues along the perimeter separating the military enclave, and they agreed to maintain communication between the two military commands.”

Top Trump aides, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA chief John Ratcliffe, also met with Cuban officials to explore possible improvements in relations. But the American side was not impressed by these negotiations, which led to the imposition of even more sanctions against the Cuban government.

In addition to the meeting, Donovan also assessed the security of the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay and discussed “the safety of service members and their families, as well as operational readiness with base officials,” US Southern Command said in an article on X.

The United States maintains its base despite decades of friction with Cuba’s socialist leaders, whom Trump wants to oust from power.

The U.S. military has a handful of naval vessels, including at least one amphibious assault ship, in the Caribbean, a force far smaller than what was present at the time of Maduro’s raid.

On Friday, the Pentagon announced that a new unit of 1,300 sailors and Marines would replace the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, which deployed to the region last summer.

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Associated Press writer Andrea Rodríguez in Havana contributed to this report.

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