“Maybe next year,” the senator said. “It’s going to happen,” he added.
MIAMI, United States. – Washington’s political pressure on Havana increased again this Wednesday, after Republican Senator Rick Scott publicly suggested that the Cuban Government faces a short-term collapse scenario, in a context marked by the US offensive against the Venezuelan regime.
At the same time, Democratic leaders in the Senate expressed concern given the possibility that the Trump Administration considers additional operations in other countries in the region, including Cuba.
In an interview with NewsNationScott, a close Trump ally and senator from Florida, predicted that the Cuban government could be overthrown “this year” or “next” as a result of pressure from Washington, which, according to him, leaves Havana without income and without its main external support.
“I think it’ll probably happen this year, maybe next year. It’s going to happen,” Scott said. The senator also maintained that the fall would be “the end of the Díaz-Canel regime” and “of the Castro regime”, linking the outcome with the financial coup against Venezuela and, in particular, with US control over energy flows and oil exports related to Caracas.
Scott’s statements come just three days after Trump stated before the press that Cuba was “ready to fall,” referring to the regional impact of the US operation in Caracas on January 3, which ended with the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his transfer to the United States. “Cuba seems to be about to fall. I don’t know how they are going to resist, if they are going to resist, but Cuba now has no income,” Trump said.
The president attributed this scenario to Havana’s dependence on Venezuelan oil: “They obtained all their income from Venezuela, from Venezuelan oil. They are not receiving anything,” he added.
In this climate, the Democratic leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, expressed concern about a possible widening of the conflict. After a meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and “Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth, Schumer said he asked if the Administration was planning operations in other countries. “I asked for some assurances from them that they were not planning operations in other countries, and I mentioned some (…), including Colombia and Cuba, and I was very disappointed in their response,” Schumer said, according to the transcript published by Dailymotion.
The briefing at the Capitol was held on January 5, according to an Associated Press (AP) dispatchamid legislative pressure to know the objectives, costs and limits of the White House strategy in Venezuela. In that same text, Schumer warned that action in Venezuela could be “just the beginning” of a dangerous approach, and rejected “another round of endless wars,” while Trump “publicly points out” interests also in Colombia and Cuba.
Despite the belligerent speech, Trump has suggested that, in the Cuban case, a direct military operation would not be necessary. In the same appearance reviewed by ABC Newsthe president responded that he did not see any necessary action in Cuba, stating that “it seems that (the system) is collapsing,” after insisting on the loss of income linked to Venezuela.
