President Trump is intensifying pressure on Cuba's government, fueling worries that threats of a U.S. invasion could become reality. The escalation marks the most direct confrontation between Washington and Havana since the 1962 missile crisis.
At stake is the boldest test yet of Trump's campaign to expand American influence under his version of the Monroe Doctrine. A Cuban invasion would dramatically reshape U.S. relations across the Western Hemisphere.
U.S. surveillance and reconnaissance flights have surged off Cuba's coast since February, according to a CNN review of flight data. New sanctions imposed last Thursday prompted Cuba's foreign minister to call the measures a "collective punishment of a genocidal nature."
Havana is also grappling with a worsening humanitarian crisis, which officials blame on an American "energy blockade" that cuts off oil suppliers. The capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro has further squeezed Cuba by severing a key oil source.
Yet there are no definitive signs Trump will target Cuba next. Brazil's president has publicly urged restraint, and some analysts caution the rhetoric may outpace actual military planning.