Secretary of War Pete Hegseth reiterated the threat of U.S. military action against Cuba, as he spoke with reporters during a visit to Panama on Aug. 12.
“Like I've said before, and I think you've seen what happened in other cases, all options are on the table, to include military options,” Hegseth said.
“And I think Cuba would be wise to pay attention to the willingness of President Trump to assert American strategic prerogatives.”
President Donald Trump and his administration have ramped up pressure on communist-led Havana in recent months.
Amid these mounting economic strains, Cuba has faced recurring power outages and shortages of food and medicine.
“I built this great military. I said, ‘You’ll never have to use it.' But sometimes you have to use it. And Cuba is next, by the way,” Trump said at the time.
Last year, the U.S. military began amassing warships, strike aircraft, and troops in the Caribbean Sea in an effort dubbed “Operation Southern Spear.”
That U.S. force buildup preceded a campaign of strikes targeting suspected drug smuggling boats in the region, and then a special operations raid into Caracas to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, to face criminal prosecution in the United States.
“Designated Terrorist Organizations with partnered governments will be legitimate targets,” Hegseth said on Wednesday.
The U.S. government currently designates Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism.
The United States had applied the designation from 1982 until President Barack Obama rescinded it in 2015.
Trump redesignated Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism at the end of his first term in January 2021.
President Joe Biden moved to rescind that at the end of his term in 2025, but Trump halted those efforts upon returning to the White House for his second term.
Earlier this year, the U.S. government led the formation of the Americas Counter-Cartel Coalition.
Hegseth met with members of the coalition during his visit to Panama on Wednesday, and announced that Colombia will be its 19th member.
While discussing the expanding regional partnerships, Hegseth forecast growing joint military efforts against designated terrorist organizations (DTOs), including against land-based targets.
“Like you saw with the strikes on the drug boats, of the DTOs, same effect on land,” he said. “So, we're working with Ecuador. We're working with Colombia. We're working with partners to bring the fight to the DTOs on land.”