Trump and Graham hint Cuba could be next after Venezuela
The President's remarks were echoed by US Senator Lindsey Graham, who also commented on the shifting geopolitical landscape in the Caribbean.
SHAH ALAM – US President Donald Trump has claimed that Cuba’s communist regime is on the brink of collapse following the US capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Trump stated that Cuba is losing a vital source of revenue derived from Venezuelan oil, a resource upon which the island nation has long been dependent.
“Cuba is ready to fall. Cuba looks like it’s ready to fall. I don’t know how they’re going to hold out, but Cuba now has no income.
"They got all of their income from Venezuela, from the Venezuelan oil. They’re not getting any of it. And Cuba literally is ready to fall. And you have a lot of great Cuban Americans that are going to be very happy about this,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
The President's remarks were echoed by US Senator Lindsey Graham, who also commented on the shifting geopolitical landscape in the Caribbean.
“You just wait for Cuba. Cuba is a communist dictatorship that’s killed priests and nuns. They’ve preyed on their own people. Their days are numbered,” Graham said.
The escalating rhetoric follows a controversial US operation that led to the capture of Maduro, a staunch ally of Havana.
The operation reportedly involved airstrikes resulting in dozens of casualties and established a blockade on Venezuelan oil exports.
Economic and Legal Fallout
Cuba relies heavily on Venezuelan crude; however, the recent blockade has severed this critical energy supply.
Trump has further indicated that the US may seize control of Venezuela’s oil assets in the wake of Maduro’s detention.
The intervention has triggered a global debate regarding international law, which strictly prohibits the use of force against another sovereign state without the approval of the United Nations Security Council.
Legal experts have questioned whether the intervention in Venezuela and the subsequent threats directed at Cuba, constitute a violation of these established rules.
History Repeating?
Human rights activist Alana Hadid expressed concern that Venezuela could be falling into a pattern similar to that seen in previous US-led interventions.
“My concern is that we are seeing a very deeply disturbing history repeating itself here.
"The US cannot police the world, and when it does, it rarely does so for the benefit of the people of the country it is policing,” she said.
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