After the formal act – the indictment of Raúl Castro – the United States launches phase two of the Cuba operation. The aircraft carrier Nimitz and its escort ships have entered the southern Caribbean Sea and will remain in the region for at least a few days. The idea, for now, is to put pressure on the Cuban government, according to what the US military’s Southern Command and an American official at the New York Times.
For now, the administration intends to use the Nimitz and its fighter wing as a show of force, not as a platform for military operations, as the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford did during the raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January.
Coincidence (which is not)
In recent weeks the Nimitz has sailed along the South American coast as part of an already scheduled training mission, participating in exercises with the Brazilian navy in recent days. In short, it wasn’t far away. But it is no coincidence that the Pentagon had scheduled the aircraft carrier to arrive in the southern Caribbean on the same day that the Justice Department announced the charges against Castro.
Cuba’s response
And in the meantime Cuba tries to negotiate. “It is open to changes in its economy and its government, and is eager to continue negotiations with the United States, but does not believe that Washington is participating in the talks in good faith,” he told the New York Times the Cuban ambassador to the United Nations, Ernesto Soberón Guzmán.
“Cuba is willing to talk about everything with the United States. There are no taboo topics in our conversations, on the basis of reciprocity and equality.” But, he added, “obviously the fact that every two days we hear declarations like: ‘We are ready to take control of Cuba’ does not contribute to creating a climate of dialogue and trust.” “The bellicose rhetoric doesn’t help,” he said. “Creating different pretexts for military aggression against Cuba, which is what they are doing, does not help.”
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