A Florida Republican congressman warned Cuba poses a unique and urgent threat to the United States as President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened military action against the communist regime just 90 miles from American shores.Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), the only Cuban-born member of Congress, pushed back hard during a Fox News appearance on Wednesday on any suggestion of cutting a deal with Havana — hours after the Justice Department indicted former Cuban leader Raúl Castro on murder charges tied to the 1996 shootdown of two American exile planes."Cuba is not Iran," Gimenez said flatly. "There are demonstrations happening every single night in Cuba. The people are starting to rise up."The backdrop made his remarks all the more charged. Earlier Wednesday, Trump told Coast Guard Academy graduates in New London, Connecticut, that the U.S. would drive out "forces of lawlessness and crime and foreign encroachment" from "the shores of Havana to the banks of the Panama Canal" — a pointed warning delivered to a military audience on the same day his Justice Department charged Castro with murder.In March, Trump warned Cuba: "They are going to make either a deal or we'll do it just as easy, anyway." He has repeatedly floated the prospect of a "friendly takeover" of the island — and suggested Cuba could be "next" after the U.S. war with Iran. "I do believe I will be having the honor of taking Cuba," Trump told reporters earlier this year. "Taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it. I think I can do anything I want with it." U.S. forces abducted Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro in January, toppling a government that had been Cuba's chief economic lifeline — and leaving little doubt about what "just as easy, anyway" might mean in practice.But on Wednesday, before flying to Connecticut, Trump hedged."I don't know about changing the regime," he said. "It's a country that really needs help. It has nothing. They can't turn on the lights. They can't eat. We don't want to see that."Gimenez wasn't buying the softer tone."You cannot deal with this regime," he said. "Any part of this regime needs to change in order to make Cuba a friend of the United States and to relieve the suffering of the Cuban people."He also warned Cuba possesses a cache of 300 to 400 drones capable of reaching the southeastern United States, including all of Florida."This is 90 miles from our shores," Gimenez said. "That poses a significant security risk."The Castro indictment marks a dramatic escalation in the administration's pressure campaign against Havana. Castro, 94, faces charges of conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, four counts of murder, and two counts of destruction of aircraft. Cuba does not extradite to the United States.
GOP rep warns Cuba may strike US with drones as he urges Trump against cutting a deal
