Hegseth at Guantanamo as Trump steps up pressure on Cuba

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrived at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Monday, the latest visit by a senior US official to the communist-ruled island as President Donald Trump ratchets up pressure on Havana.

In his address to American soldiers, Hegseth said that he still harbors hope for a positive relationship with Cuba.

"It would be unwise for the Cuban government to attempt to acquire or gain access to the types of weapons that could reach this base or U.S. territory," Hegseth said, without elaborating on the weapons. "To do so would provoke the kind of conflict that they not only do not want, but cannot sustain. No country in the world can match the capabilities of the United States."

Hegseth's visit comes less than two weeks after the top US commander for Latin America, General Francis Donovan, visited the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station and spoke with a senior Cuban general on its perimeter.

It also followed a rare visit by CIA Director John Ratcliffe to Havana earlier in May.

Hegseth made no statements after landing at Guantanamo Bay, where he is expected to meet with US soldiers stationed there.

Trump has often cited political change in Cuba among the foreign policy goals of his second term.

Michael Bustamante, head of the Cuban studies program at the University of Miami, said the visit could send a message of U.S. resolve amid growing concerns in Cuba about a possible U.S. military attack on the island.

"Perhaps Hegseth's visit is designed to reinforce once again the message that the price of not coming to the negotiating table could be the use of the military option, even though observers are increasingly warning of the possible complications of such an operation," he said.

Cuba has been an opponent of the US since Fidel Castro's revolution in 1959.

Trump has strong support from hardline Cuban Americans in Florida, who have advocated for US-sponsored regime change for decades, and his administration has gradually increased pressure on Havana.

On May 20, the US formally indicted former Cuban President Raul Castro on four counts of murder for the 1996 shooting down of civilian airliners flown by Miami-based émigrés.

The indictment is the latest example of the Trump administration's efforts to assert American influence in the Western Hemisphere.

Washington's more assertive role in Latin America was epitomized by a bold U.S. military raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3. Maduro, a socialist with close ties to Cuba, was flown to New York, where he faces drug trafficking charges. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and a possible candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2028, has caused a stir in Havana by speaking about the national security risk posed by what he says is a failed state just 90 miles, or 145 kilometers, from Florida.

Rubio and Donovan posed in front of a map of Cuba on May 5 in a post by Donovan's Southern Command on the X network. The post said the talks focused on "US efforts to counter threats that undermine security, stability, and democracy in our hemisphere."

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez warned that any military action would lead to a "bloodbath" in which thousands of Cubans and Americans would die.

By threatening tariffs on countries that supply Cuba with oil and other energy, Trump has effectively cut off the flow of fuel to the island, causing almost constant power outages and dealing new blows to the already struggling economy.

Experts say instability in Cuba could trigger a migrant crisis.