LIMA, Peru – Cuba woke up this February 8 to the presence of at least three United States military ships operating a short distance from its territorial waters, according to data obtained from monitoring public maritime maps of the platform. VesselFinder.
According to the information available, one of the vessels appeared located around 11:00 AM less than eight nautical miles from the Cuban coast, off Cayo Romano Occidental.
That position places it just four miles from the limit of the territorial sea, which according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea extends up to 12 nautical miles from the coastal baseline.
The presence of these units occurs in the context of Washington’s naval deployment as part of Operation Southern Spear (in Spanish, Southern Spear), a military and maritime security campaign led in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific from 2025, under the direction of Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) and the US Navy’s Fourth Fleet.
The official objective of the operation is to detect, monitor and intercept illicit activities at sea, especially linked to drug trafficking, smuggling, sanctioned oil transportation and transnational criminal networks.
These actions are carried out in coordination with the Coast Guard, the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies, within the interagency force known as JIATF-South.
Until now, no official source has confirmed that military ships have entered Cuban territorial sea; However, the distance at which they were detected underlines the nature of surveillance and military pressure in a particularly tense scenario between the United States and the Cuban regime.
Cuban dictatorship in the sights of the White House
President Donald Trump declared on January 29 “national emergency” with respect to Cuba, considering that “the policies, practices and actions” of Havana constitute “an unusual and extraordinary threat” to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.
In the executive orderdated this Thursday, Trump maintains that Havana “aligns” and “supports” hostile countries and actors, in addition to pointing out organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah, among others.
A published information by the White House details that Cuba hosts Russia’s largest overseas signals intelligence facility focused on stealing sensitive national security information from the United States and provides safe haven for transnational terrorist groups.
In response to the emergency, the order establishes a “tariff system” that would allow the imposition of an additional tax on imports from countries that “sell” or “provide” oil to Cuba, directly or indirectly.
The document indicates that, “as of the date of entry into force,” this additional rate “may be imposed” on imported goods that are “products” of any country that supplies oil to the Island.
