Why is Trump putting pressure on Cuba, and to what end? BBC analysis
A BBC Latin America analysis examines how the Trump administration has simultaneously stepped up military, legal and diplomatic pressure on Cuba in recent weeks. The Raúl Castro indictment, the tracking of US military aircraft and new money-laundering reviews are described as a single policy package.
BBC Latin America's correspondent Will Grant writes that the Trump administration has, over the past six weeks, used three distinct channels of pressure on Cuba in a coordinated way. The Justice Department's murder indictment of former leader Raúl Castro over the 1996 Brothers to the Rescue shootdown, intensified tracking of US military aircraft in Caribbean airspace, and the Treasury's preparation of compliance reviews against third-country banks that work with Havana are described as elements of a single package.
According to Congressional sources cited by Grant, the State Department under Republican Florida Senator Marco Rubio has reopened the international air-law file based on the 1996 ICAO findings. The Cuban government described the indictment as a 'political show', and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said there was 'no evidence, only campaign options'. Latin American economies are watching weekly Brent moves through the lens of this tension.
The regional impact section quotes CARICOM chair Ralph Gonsalves, prime minister of Saint Vincent, calling the measures 'excessive'. Mexico and Brazil have requested diplomatic engagement through the EU. Wilson Center analyst Ariel Pereda told the BBC the White House's aim appears to be 'leverage on a future negotiating table' rather than regime change. According to Investing.com Americas data, Colombia's COLCAP closed down 0.85% and Mexico's IPC down 0.07%.
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