The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has said that his country “will take over Cuba almost immediately,” during an event in Florida this Friday. “When I return from Iran, maybe we will have the aircraft carrier SS Lincoln disembark and then they will surrender,” he said, referring to the Castro regime. His statements raise the tone of Washington’s threats in recent months and once again put the future of the island in the presidential target.
In his comments at a private dinner at the Forum Club in West Palm Beach, Trump pointed out that this supposed “takeover of Cuba” will not come until he has declared victory in Iran and reached an agreement that ends the war. “We will finish this one first, I like to finish the work,” he stated.
“On our return, what we will do upon our return from Iran, we will send one of our aircraft carriers, perhaps the Abraham Lincoln, the largest in the world [error del presidente: el mayor es el Gerald Ford]”We will make it come closer, stop a hundred meters from the shore and they (the Cuban regime) will answer, thank you very much, we surrender,” he boasted in a speech during dinner.
The Republican’s comments come hours after the White House published an executive order in which Trump toughened and expanded, starting this Friday, the already very harsh sanctions that his country imposes against the Government of Cuba. Now, these types of measures will be directed against “foreign or American” people who carry out activities that generate foreign currency income for the island.
The new measure complements as of January 29, also through an executive order and through the threat of secondary tariffs and sanctions.
“The policies, practices and actions of the Government of Cuba (…) continue to constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its total or substantial origin outside the United States, to the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” notes the executive order that the president signed. “Not only are they designed to harm the United States, but they are also repugnant to the moral and political values of free and democratic societies,” the document maintained.
The announcement was made known when Trump traveled to Florida, where the Cuban-American community has a strong presence and has great political influence, to participate in an event to promote his economic policy for retirees in the town of The Villages.
The new measures, which do not mention any person in particular, focus on the basic sectors of the Cuban economy, especially mining, financial services, energy and defense. Any person or company that develops activities there or does business with the Cuban regime will suffer a total blockade of its assets in the United States. And if a bank from another country facilitates a “significant transaction” to any of those affected, they will face the freezing of their accounts on Wall Street or the prohibition of operating in dollars, among other punishments.
The executive order goes much further than up to now. It not only punishes members of the Cuban Government, but also businessmen, officials or individuals at any level who participate in the sanctioned activities: it is a measure that potentially extends the penalties to a good percentage of the Cuban population. The families of those punished will also be affected.
Those who are included in these criteria will also not be able to travel to the United States, unless the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, rules that their presence would be necessary for the national interests of the United States.
The sanctions will take effect immediately, “due to the ability to transfer funds or assets instantly, which according to the Trump Administration would allow them to be evaded if there had been prior notification.
The measures have been announced in parallel with when Tehran has presented its third proposal to end the war, and against trade between the theocratic regime and China.
On several occasions, Trump had already suggested that once the war in Iran has concluded – for which there is still no end in sight – he will turn his sights to Cuba, whose regime he has assured time and again that . The US Government maintains contacts with representatives from Havana and on several occasions has hinted, with Marco Rubio – son of Cuban immigrants – at the helm, that a regime change is being considered on the island.
The executive order sparked the joy of several Republican congressmen of Cuban origin in Florida. Legislator María Elvira Salazar has written on the social network
