Gen. Francis Donovan, head of U.S. Southern Command, met Cuban military officials on May 29 near the perimeter of U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, as the United States and Cuba traded warnings over national security and the risk of further escalation.
For the second time in a matter of weeks, U.S.-Cuba tensions played out on the edge of Guantanamo Bay.
On May 29, Gen. Francis Donovan, the head of U.S. Southern Command, held a rare meeting with senior Cuban military officials at the perimeter of U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the U.S. military said, confirming a Reuters report.
Donovan briefly discussed operational security matters with the Cuban delegation, which included Cuban General Roberto Legra Sotolongo, first deputy minister of the chief of the General Staff, according to U.S. Southern Command.
“Donovan also led a perimeter security assessment of the naval base and discussed force protection, safety of service members and their families, and operational readiness with base officials,” the command said on X.
The meeting was the first in recent memory by a head of Southern Command, arriving as Cuba faces growing public concern about the possibility of a U.S. military attack on the Communist-run island.
Cuba’s armed forces said on Facebook that the meeting occurred with mutual agreement and that both sides agreed to maintain communication. “Both delegations evaluate positively the meeting where issues related to security around the dividing perimeter of the military enclave were addressed and agreed to maintain communication between both military commands. ” the statement said.
The tone around the island has hardened beyond Guantanamo itself. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the likelihood of a negotiated. peaceful agreement between the United States and Cuba is “not high.” Rubio has repeatedly raised alarms in Havana over the national security risk posed by what he calls a failed state just 90 miles from Florida. On May 5. Rubio and Donovan posed in front of a map of Cuba in a post on X by Donovan’s Southern Command. It said the talks focused on “U.S. efforts to counter threats that undermine security, stability and democracy in our hemisphere.”.
Cuba’s top foreign policy figures have responded with sharp warnings. Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez warned that any military action would lead to a “bloodbath” in which thousands of Cubans and Americans would die.
The Guantanamo meeting also fits into a broader pressure campaign the Trump administration has been pursuing. President Donald Trump has often cited Cuba among his foreign policy goals for his second term and has hinted it will become his focus once the war with Iran is over.
The administration’s posture has been backed by hardline Cuban Americans in Florida, who have pushed for U.S.-instigated regime change for decades. The Trump administration has steadily ramped up pressure on the island, including a recent legal move targeting Raúl Castro.
On May 20. the United States formally charged former President Raúl Castro with four counts of murder for the 1996 downing of civilian aircraft operated by Miami-based exiles. Cuba has rejected the U.S. charges against Raúl Castro over the 1996 “Brothers to the Rescue” plane shootdown and declared full support. The dispute comes decades after Cuba’s 1959 revolution. when Fidel Castro took power and the island began its long standoff with Washington.
The rhetoric and the actions have both escalated in Latin America more broadly. Washington’s more assertive approach was exemplified by a U.S. military raid on Jan. 3 to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, and then fly him to New York to face drug trafficking charges. Maduro, a socialist aligned with Havana, pleaded not guilty.
On Cuba specifically, critics point to economic strain as part of the pressure. Trump has effectively imposed a fuel blockade on the island by threatening tariffs on countries supplying it with fuel. fueling seemingly endless power outages and delivering new blows to the island’s already ailing economy.
Experts say instability in Cuba threatens a migration crisis.
The Guantanamo meeting comes after a rare visit earlier in May by CIA Director John Ratcliffe to Havana, adding another layer to a months-long effort by Washington to tighten its grip on security concerns in the region.
And yet, even as the U.S. military described the May 29 talks as centered on perimeter security, the political mismatch between the two governments remains wide. Rubio said a peaceful negotiated agreement is “not high. ” while Cuba signaled through its own statement on Facebook that the sides agreed to maintain communication.
Donovan’s assessment of force protection, safety of service members and their families, and operational readiness—conducted at a location defined by separation—unfolds against a backdrop of mutual warnings about how quickly things could spiral if either side decides military action is the next step.
Guantanamo Bay U.S. Southern Command Francis Donovan Cuba Roberto Legra Sotolongo Marco Rubio John Ratcliffe Raúl Castro indictment Brothers to the Rescue Nicolas Maduro migration crisis