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Olugbemi. Adeyinka Ogunleye
4 weeks ago
Overview
President Trump Tells CNN Cuba Is Going To Fall “Pretty Soon”
As President Donald Trump suggests that Cuba could soon fall, his administration has begun exploring whether federal prosecutors could charge members of the regime or the Communist Party with crimes, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The administration is working to develop possible criminal cases tied to issues like drugs or violence, according to the person. The multiagency effort is being led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. "Federal prosecutors from across the country work every day to pursue justice, which includes efforts to combat transnational crime," a Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement.
U.S. officials charged Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife with drug conspiracy charges in the U.S. after they were captured by the military in January at a compound in Caracas. They have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Federal charges against Cuban officials could ratchet up public pressure on the country and be used as the basis to levy additional economic sanctions imposed by the State Department, which is being consulted as part of the effort, according to the person familiar with the matter. The U.S. already has a commercial, economic and financial embargo on Cuba that dates back decades.
The State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Cuban officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump has been talking about Cuba’s government increasingly since the raid on Venezuela, one of Havana’s closest allies. The president suggested following the raid that the island nation could collapse on its own because its economy was so weak and the oil shipments that it depended on from Venezuela had stopped.
This week, just days after the U.S. attack on Iran that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top leadership, the president suggested that Cuba's collapse was upcoming. “Cuba is gonna fall pretty soon,” Trump told CNN in a phone interview Friday. “Cuba is gonna fall too. They want to make a deal so badly.” “They want to make a deal, and so I’m going to put Marco [Rubio] over there, and we’ll see how that works out. We’re really focused on this one right now. We’ve got plenty of time, but Cuba’s ready — after 50 years,” Trump said.
