Cuba in May 2026: the most important developments in security
Cuba's security situation in May 2026 was defined by rising military tension with the United States. On May 2, President Donald Trump said he was sending an aircraft carrier toward Cuba and that the US would take the island soon, and on May 5 he repeated that the USS Abraham Lincoln could be brought there. By May 21 the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz had been reported deployed to the Caribbean, and flight-tracking data showed a US surveillance aircraft near Cuba. The Cuban president said US military threats had reached an unprecedented level. Cuba stated it would defend itself under the slogan Homeland or death, and it issued a guide telling citizens how to act in case of a US attack.
The dispute widened around claims about drones. Reports on May 18 said US intelligence had flagged a drone build-up in Cuba, with some reports suggesting Iranian help. Cuba denied plotting drone attacks on the US base at Guantanamo Bay and warned that any US military action would bring a bloodbath. US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said Cuba poses a national security threat because of growing Russian and Chinese spying activity on the island.
Legal and law enforcement steps followed the same line. The US filed murder charges against Raul Castro, aged 94, over the 1996 shootdown of two civilian planes of the Brothers to the Rescue group, which killed four people. The charges were brought by federal prosecutor Jason Reding Quinones in Miami. Cuba marked the 30th anniversary of the shootdown on May 19. On May 22, US authorities arrested the sister of the head of GAESA, Cuba's military conglomerate, and a US official said the US could capture Castro as it did Nicolas Maduro.
Inside Cuba, riots were reported during 22-hour blackouts as the country ran out of fuel. On May 29, a US general met senior Cuban military officials at the edge of the Guantanamo Bay base.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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