Sarah Anderson

There are a lot of stories about Cuba floating around right now. Some are MSM outlets acting like they have a scoop on something that’s been happening or rumored to be happening for months. Some are simply absurd and probably not true. Most aren’t actually verified by the Donald Trump administration and come from anonymous sources. I’m not even going to bother with those today. I saw this happen in the final months before we captured Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. Most of these reporters and media outlets didn’t even care about these countries until they became newsworthy, and once they do become hot topics, they’ll publish just about anything to get clicks. I can’t do that.  

But what I can tell you is that what the regime is saying and what’s happening on the ground tell two different stories. Both the “president,” Miguel Díaz-Canel, and the foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez, have been doing interviews for a month or two now, warning of the United States’ impending military aggression, claiming the people of Cuba will fight the imperialists, etc. 

In the last week or two, Díaz-Canel claimed publicly that the U.S. “will cause a bloodbath with incalculable consequences.” 

Most recently, Rodríguez has been going after Marco Rubio with his favorite talking point: Rubio has a personal vendetta against the regime — as if he’s not just one of the millions of Cubans who have seen their parents and grandparents flee the communist s**thole in which they were forced to live. He just happens to be the one with the power to do something about it.    

But while these guys are going on all the TV networks yelling about U.S. aggression, on the ground, the regime is actually playing nice with the U.S. because it knows it holds no leverage.  

On Friday, the most unusual thing happened. United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan was at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, and he met with Army Corps General, Gen. Roberto Legrá Sotolongo, First Deputy Minister of the Chief of the General Staff, and other senior leaders from the Cuban military at the perimeter of the facility. They even posed for a picture:

Keep in mind that the regime considers our base at Guantanamo Bay an illegal occupation. 

This extremely rare, high-level face-to-face meeting was described as “positive” by both sides. The Cuban Ministry of Defense said in a statement, “Both delegations considered the meeting to be positive, where issues related to security around the dividing perimeter of the military enclave were addressed and they agreed to maintain communication between both military commands.”  

While some in the MSM are downplaying it, this isn’t something you see every day, but then again, a lot of what we’re witnessing lately is unusual. The regime is doing interviews with the U.S. press, including Fox News. The CIA director is holding talks in (and making threats) in Havana. Cubans standing on rooftops raising U.S. flags or writing “Long live Trump” on building walls without fear. 

In the past, low-level “fence line” meetings took place each month between U.S. and Cuban military officials at the naval base, but Trump had them suspended when he took office in 2025. This is not a continuation of that. This is not routine.  

Keep in mind that the regime considers our base at Guantanamo Bay an illegal occupation. 

This extremely rare, high-level face-to-face meeting was described as “positive” by both sides. The Cuban Ministry of Defense said in a statement, “Both delegations considered the meeting to be positive, where issues related to security around the dividing perimeter of the military enclave were addressed and they agreed to maintain communication between both military commands.”  

While some in the MSM are downplaying it, this isn’t something you see every day, but then again, a lot of what we’re witnessing lately is unusual. The regime is doing interviews with the U.S. press, including Fox News. The CIA director is holding talks in (and making threats) in Havana. Cubans standing on rooftops raising U.S. flags or writing “Long live Trump” on building walls without fear. 

In the past, low-level “fence line” meetings took place each month between U.S. and Cuban military officials at the naval base, but Trump had them suspended when he took office in 2025. This is not a continuation of that. This is not routine.  

Sarah Anderson is a Georgia-based freelance writer and journalist, specializing in foreign policy, with a passion for Latin America and the Caribbean.  

When she’s not writing, you can find her chasing animals on her small hobby farm, swimming every chance she gets, traveling, gardening, reading, or yelling at a Georgia Bulldogs or Atlanta Falcons football game like any good Southerner. 

You might also catch her watching State Department briefings to unwind.  

Email Sarah at SarahAndersonatPJMedia@gmail.com.