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We Have Several Signs Trump Admin Planning Next Country As Military Target

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The U.S. military may be ramping up for a potential Cuba operation, multiple reports suggest.

Two sources familiar with the matter leaked the information to USA Today on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly — a report the U.S. military has yet to verify. Open source intelligence accounts on X also documented the flight path of a drone that appeared to be spying on the communist nation.

“BLKCAT6, a U.S. Navy MQ-4C ‘Triton’ High-Altitude Surveillance Drone flew an over 12-hour mission yesterday off the coast of Cuba, flying rounds over the Gulf of America and Northern Caribbean, taking a particularly close look at both Havana and the area near Guantanamo Bay, before returning to Naval Air Station Jacksonville in Florida,” OSINTdefender posted on X.

The USA Today leak came just over a month after President Donald Trump’s announcement that Cuba’s regime was at “the end of the line” at the Shield of the Americas Summit on March 7.

“As part of our standard responsibilities, U.S. Southern Command routinely reviews and updates contingency plans to ensure readiness and support for U.S. government objectives in the region,” U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) told the Daily Caller News Foundation in an email, when asked whether it is preparing operational plans regarding Cuba.

(Read more from “We Have Several Signs Trump Admin Planning Next Country As Military Target” HERE)

Cuban Coast Guard Opens Fire on U.S.-Registered Speedboat, Four Killed

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The Cuban Interior Ministry announced on Wednesday that a Cuban Coast Guard vessel fired on a U.S.-registered speedboat, killing four men aboard and wounding six other passengers.

According to the Cuban Interior Ministry statement, the speedboat passengers began shooting at the Cuban Coast Guard vessel when it approached them, wounding its commander. The fatalities occurred when the Cuban ship returned fire.

The Interior Ministry provided the Florida registration number of the speedboat, and said it was detected about one nautical mile northeast of the El Pino channel, near the island of Cayo Falcones. (Read more from “Cuban Coast Guard Opens Fire on U.S.-Registered Speedboat, Four Killed” HERE)

Russia Cuts Deals with Cuba, Venezuela to Challenge U.S. in the West

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Russia’s rubber-stamp legislature passed an “intergovernmental agreement on military cooperation” with the communist government of Cuba on Tuesday, formalizing an already existing alliance providing cannon fodder for the invasion of Ukraine.

Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro also announced on Tuesday that he had solidified a “strategic partnership” with Russia that could allow Moscow greater ability to leverage influence in the Western Hemisphere, challenging the United States.

According to the Russian news agency Tass, the upper house of the Duma ratified an agreement that “will provide legal grounds to define the goals, areas and forms of bilateral military cooperation,” suggesting that such cooperation already existed between the two countries informally. The agreement is one step below the commitments of the mutual defense treaty that Russia signed with North Korea in June 2024, which preceded Pyongyang admitting that it had deployed troops to the war theater against Ukraine in Kursk.

Alexander Stepanov, a purported Russian “military expert,” told Tass that the military agreement with Cuba was a form of retaliation against President Donald Trump for his ongoing support for Ukraine, in particular concerns that the United States may soon provide Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles.

“This is about a symmetrical response to the potential supply of Tomahawks,” Stepanov stated plainly. “The ratified agreement maximally expands our military cooperation and allows, within the framework of bilateral interaction and in coordination with the government of the Republic of Cuba, to deploy virtually any offensive systems on the island’s territory.” (Read more from “Russia Cuts Deals with Cuba, Venezuela to Challenge U.S. in the West” HERE)

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Chinese Spying Facilities in Cuba Signal America’s New Cold War

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China has likely upgraded and expanded its spying facilities in Cuba, according to a new report by an American think tank. The report not only confirms that a Cold War between China and the U.S. has already started, but also raises new concerns that China may be aiming to bring it to America’s doorstep, posing potentially severe and grave implications for the U.S.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, produced the study as a follow-up to The Wall Street Journal’s reporting last year that revealed China had secretly agreed to pay cash-strapped Cuba several billion dollars to establish a Chinese electronic eavesdropping facility on the island. This facility is likely to be used for intercepting communications and gathering intelligence on the United States and its allies, according to CSIS.

Probably not wanting the news to disrupt the Biden administration’s détente approach to Beijing, the White House initially insisted that the Journal’s report was inaccurate. Yet, two days later, a U.S. official confirmed that China had a spy base in Cuba since at least 2019. The Biden administration then claimed that it had taken steps to “slow down Beijing’s efforts to expand its intelligence gathering” without elaborating on those steps.

The Biden administration’s vague explanation only inspired more research on the topic. CSIS examined years’ worth of satellite images and released its findings last week. CSIS finds that, contrary to what the Biden administration has told us, China has probably sped up, not slowed down, its intelligence-gathering effort in Cuba.

CSIS’s investigation identified four electronic spying stations in Cuba that have been upgraded and expanded: Bejucal, Calabazar, Wajay, and the previously unknown El Salao. For example, by comparing satellite images, CSIS noticed the site at Wajay “has gradually expanded over the past 20 years, growing from just one antenna and several small buildings in 2002 to a robust complex today. It now hosts 12 antennas of various sizes and orientations.” (Read more from “Chinese Spying Facilities in Cuba Signal America’s New Cold War” HERE)

Russian Nuclear Submarine Arrives in Cuba for Caribbean Tour

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Russia’s Kazan nuclear submarine and the Admiral Gorshkov frigate arrived in Cuba on Wednesday morning as part of a five-day stopover to the communist nation, placing the fleet within 90 miles of the U.S. coastline.

According to the Russian government, the Navy vessel and the submarine — both equipped with long-range attack missiles — are in the region to engage in aerial and naval exercises carried out by the Russian Navy. The pair are accompanied by the Russian Nikolai Chiker tug boat and the Pashin fuel ship.

The arrival of the Russian vessels and nuclear submarine was first mentioned by unnamed U.S. government sources in reports published earlier in June. In the reports, the U.S. sources stated that the vessels’ visit would include “port calls in Cuba and possibly Venezuela.”

The Cuban Foreign Ministry confirmed the visit on June 6, calling it in line with the “historic friendly relations between Cuba and the Russian Federation and is strictly in accordance with international regulations to which Cuba is a state party.” The Castro regime also claimed that none of the vessels are nuclear weapons carriers, “so their stopover in our country does not represent a threat to the region.”

According to the sources cited by initial reports on the visit, the administration of President Joe Biden is not concerned by the exercises and believes they “pose no direct threat to the United States.” (Read more from “Russian Nuclear Submarine Arrives in Cuba for Caribbean Tour” HERE)

Cuba Says It Busted Russian Op to Recruit for War in Ukraine; Not Everyone Is Convinced

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Cuba‘s government claims to have uncovered a Russian operation to enlist its citizens to fight in the war in Ukraine, but not everyone is convinced Havana is being honest.

A release from the Caribbean nation said criminal proceedings are underway in an effort to dismantle the human trafficking network for military recruiting purposes.

The announcement from the country’s Foreign Ministry said the operation targeted Cuban citizens living in Russia as well as in Cuba.

“Cuba plays no role in the war in Ukraine,” the statement said, according to NPR.

“It is acting and will act vigorously against whoever, from the national territory, participates in any form of human trafficking for the purposes of recruitment of mercenaries so that Cuban citizens use weapons against any country,” it added. (Read more from “Cuba Says It Busted Russian Op to Recruit for War in Ukraine; Not Everyone Is Convinced” HERE)

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After Initially Crying ‘Inaccurate,’ Biden Admin Confirms China Has Had a Spy Base in Cuba Since at Least 2019

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China has teamed up with a communist ally to spy on the US just 90 miles south of Florida, White House officials confirmed.

The country has been operating a spy base in Cuba since at least 2019 as part of an effort to ramp up its spying efforts, a Biden administration official said, noting that the issue has been “ongoing” and predates Biden’s presidency.

The anonymous White House official said that the US intelligence community has known of China’s spying from Cuba for some time, deeming it an “ongoing” matter” that is “not a new development.”

The Biden admin has worked to stop China’s efforts to expand its spy operations and believes some progress has been made through diplomacy and other specified action, the official said.

The existence of the Chinese spy base was confirmed by The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, which reported that China and Cuba had reached an agreement in principle to build an electronic eavesdropping station on the island. (Read more from “After Initially Crying ‘Inaccurate,’ Biden Admin Confirms China Has Had a Spy Base in Cuba Since at Least 2019” HERE)

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Biden Administration Resettles Al Qaeda Terrorist Who Was Direct Subordinate to 9/11 Mastermind

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The Biden administration on Thursday resettled a terrorist from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who served as a direct subordinate to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the Al Qaeda terrorist who was the principal architect of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Majid Khan was sent to Belize; he is the first detainee resettled by the Biden administration. He joined Al Qaeda after the 9/11 attacks and was later arrested in Karachi in March 2003. After he was captured, he revealed information about an Al Qaeda plot to hijack an airplane and fly it into the Library Tower in Los Angeles, the tallest building on the West Coast at the time. In 2012, Khan was charged with conspiracy, murder, and attempted murder in violation of the law of war, providing material support for terrorism, and spying. He pled guilty in February 2012 to conspiracy, murder in violation of the law of war, attempted murder in violation of the law of war, providing material support for terrorism, and spying and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

In June 2022, Khan’s lawyers filed a petition to force the Biden administration to release him as his sentence had ended in March 2022, claiming any place but his native Pakistan would be acceptable, writing that because he had cooperated with the American government the “risk of harm is so great that Petitioner can never return to Pakistan where he would face persecution.” (Read more from “Biden Administration Resettles Al Qaeda Terrorist Who Was Direct Subordinate to 9/11 Mastermind” HERE)

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China Praises Cuba for Defending Uyghur Genocide

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The communist government of Cuba hijacked this week’s ongoing U.N. Human Rights Council session to deliver a statement, signed by 69 countries, in support of China’s genocide of Uyghur and other non-Han ethnic groups in occupied East Turkistan.

Cuba and China, in addition to several other dictatorships and human rights abusers, enjoy seats on the Council, regularly using them to undermine the mission of the Council by forcing it to focus on Israel or America. Under President Donald Trump, America vacated the Council in protest of the disproportionate representation that human rights abuses have on the U.N. body, but President Joe Biden reversed that decision, making America a participant in the Council’s activities.

The Council recently expelled Russia in response to the eight-year-old invasion of Ukraine, which is also on the Council, but has made no similar moves against Cuba, China, Venezuela, Qatar, and other serial human rights violators.

Cuba’s intervention to defend genocide at the Human Rights Council was a response to 47 countries, including the United States, issuing a statement on Tuesday directed at U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, who recently visited East Turkistan and concluded that the extensively documented Chinese concentration camp system had been dismantled and praised China’s atrocious human rights record. (Read more from “China Praises Cuba for Defending Uyghur Genocide” HERE)

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Biden Administration To Impose ‘Hard-Hitting Sanctions’ on Cuban Officials

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President Joe Biden intends to impose “hard-hitting sanctions” on the Cuban officials responsible for the repression of widespread protests against the regime, according to a senior State Department official.

“We are going to focus on applying hard-hitting sanctions on regime officials responsible for the brutal crackdown,” State Department acting Assistant Secretary Julie Chung tweeted Wednesday. “Cuban officials responsible for violence, repression, & human rights violations against peaceful protestors in Cuba must be held accountable.”

Chung, who is leading the Western Hemisphere Affairs bureau in the absence of a political appointee, aired that threat while outlining a multifaceted plan to respond to the political uproar on the island. Cuban officials have accused the United States of orchestrating the protests, which featured thousands of Cubans denouncing the regime’s brutality and its mishandling of economic and public health crises.

“The Cuban government continues to repress and punish virtually all forms of dissent and public criticism,” the Human Rights Watch’s Jose Miguel Vivanco told a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Tuesday. “At the same time, Cubans continue to endure a dire economic crisis, which impacts their social and economic rights.” (Read more from “Biden Administration To Impose ‘Hard-Hitting Sanctions’ on Cuban Officials” HERE)

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