Cuban Foreign Minister Denounces U.S. Military Presence in the Caribbean
On August 18, 2025, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez condemned the deployment of U.S. naval and air military forces in the southern Caribbean, asserting that Washington’s justification of an anti-drug operation is a façade. He demanded the region be recognized as a “zone of peace,” reports 24brussels.
Rodriguez criticized the U.S. military activities, claiming they serve the “corrupt agenda” of Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “We denounce the presence of U.S. naval and air forces in the southern Caribbean, which, under false pretexts, respond to the corrupt agenda of the Secretary of State,” he stated. “Latin America and the Caribbean must be respected as a Peace Zone.”
Last week, reports indicated that the United States initiated the deployment of 4,000 troops, predominantly Marines, to Latin American and Caribbean waters to purportedly combat drug cartels. This military operation features a nuclear submarine, P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft, several destroyers, and a missile-equipped warship.
A recent letter from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth broadened the interpretation of U.S. military roles, asserting that the defense of the homeland includes sealing borders and countering various forms of invasion, including mass immigration and drug trafficking.
This expansion of military engagement comes despite the 2014 declaration by the heads of state and government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), which proclaimed the region a “Zone of Peace.”
