A report said Cuba recently secured more than 300 drones from Iran and Russia and is reviewing ways to launch attacks targeting U.S. military bases.
On the 17th local time, the U.S. outlet Axios, citing classified information it obtained, said Cuba's military has begun discussing plans to use drones to attack the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, U.S. Navy vessels, and Key West, Florida.
According to the report, since 2023 Cuba has introduced attack drones from Russia and Iran and deployed them at strategic points in the country, and in the past month it is understood to have requested additional drones and military equipment from Russia.
U.S. intelligence agencies are not said to assess Cuba's threat as imminent or that Cuba is actively planning to attack the United States.
However, some analysts say Cuba's acquisition of drones, along with the stationing of Iranian military advisers in Cuba, could provoke the Donald Trump administration and be used as a pretext for a future U.S. military response.
A senior U.S. official said, "It is concerning when you consider that a range of bad actors—from terrorist groups to drug cartels, Iran, and Russia—are using this technology at such close range," adding, "This is a growing threat."
Cuba emphasized its right to self-defense and criticized the United States. According to dpa, Cuba's Vice Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that "without any pretext, the anti-Cuba campaign seeking to justify a military attack on Cuba is escalating by the hour, spewing ever more outrageous accusations."