The U.S. military command operating in the Western Hemisphere said on May 20 that an aircraft carrier strike group entered the Caribbean Sea, as the Trump administration heaps pressure on the Cuban communist regime.
In a post on X,U.S. Southern Command said that the USS Nimitz is now in the Caribbean and released video footage of the carrier group.Southern Command did not provide more details about why the carrier group traveled to the region.
The Nimitz, it said, "has proven its combat prowess across the globe, ensuring stability and defending democracy from the Taiwan Strait to the Arabian Gulf."
The Nimitz, commissioned in 1975, carried out joint naval exercises with the Brazilian Navy off the coast of Rio de Janeiro last week, the U.S. Embassy in Brazil said in a May 14 statement.
On May 20, the Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed a criminal indictment against former Cuban leader Raul Castro, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio released a video in Spanish urging Cubans to reject the country's communist leadership.
According to the DOJ indictment, Castro was indicted in connection with the 1996 downing of civilian planes operated by Miami-based exiles. Castro, now 94, was Cuba's defense minister when the planes were shot down, killing four people.
The charges against Castro, the brother of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, drew pushback from the country's current leader, Miguel Diaz-Canel, in a post on X.
"This is a political maneuver, devoid of any legal foundation, aimed solely at padding the fabricated dossier they use to justify the folly of a military aggression against Cuba," Diaz-Canel wrote.
This year, U.S. President Donald Trump has been ratcheting up talk of regime change in Cuba and said he would potentially initiate a "friendly takeover" of the country if its leadership did not open up its economy to American investment and kick out U.S. adversaries.
When asked what will happen next for the U.S. embargo on Cuba on Wednesday, Trump said, "We're going to see." He added that the U.S. government is ready to provide humanitarian assistance to what he described as a failing country.
Source: ZeroHedge News
