Is Cuba the Next White House Misadventure?
Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel during celebrations marking the victory on the 65th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion.
Photographer: ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFPAmerica’s armed forces are heavily committed in the Middle East, but there are whispers around the White House that they have been warned to stand by for a new intervention against Cuba. As usual with this president, no final decision has been taken. But Donald Trump sees a window of opportunity to act in the Caribbean, where the 67-year-old Castro regime is tottering under the weight of US sanctions, the cut-off of Venezuelan oil and its own awesome incompetence.
On Monday the president said that the US may “stop by Cuba” when finished with Iran. A quarter of the island’s 11 million population, including most of its middle-class professionals, have quit home in the last five years, for many destinations. The economy is on its knees. Hunger is rife. Despite a delivery of Russian oil, electricity blackouts are routine. Only a few privileged people, with access to US dollars and the black economy, are prospering.