US Defence Secretary warns Cuba: any weapons reaching America will trigger confrontation

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Havana on Wednesday that any attempt to acquire weapons capable of reaching American soil or the Guantánamo Bay base would trigger a confrontation Cuba could not withstand. Speaking during an unannounced visit to the 116-year-old US naval station, Hegseth told reporters that Washington was prepared to escalate sanctions and impose a full oil blockade if the Cuban government pursued such capabilities.

The Pentagon chief’s remarks came as tensions between the two capitals reached their highest point since the 1962 missile crisis. On the same day, the US Treasury announced fresh sanctions targeting three Cuban state-owned shipping firms for allegedly transporting Venezuelan oil in violation of Washington’s embargo. The measures follow a May 28 executive order signed by President Donald Trump that authorises secondary sanctions against any entity—foreign or domestic—that facilitates arms transfers to Cuba or helps Havana evade existing restrictions .

Cuban officials reacted with outrage. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez called the sanctions “economic warfare” and accused Washington of deliberately sabotaging humanitarian aid shipments. In a statement released late Tuesday, the ministry said three children had died in the past week while awaiting critical medicines blocked by US restrictions .

Analysts note that the current crisis is the most severe since the 1990s “Special Period,” when Soviet subsidies collapsed and Cuba’s GDP shrank by 35%. The renewed embargo—now expanded to include penalties on foreign banks handling Cuban transactions—has slashed fuel imports by 40% and forced rolling blackouts across Havana and Santiago de Cuba. Independent economists estimate the island’s energy deficit will deepen by 18% over the next quarter unless exemptions for humanitarian goods are broadened.

Hegseth, who arrived in Guantánamo aboard a C-17 transport aircraft, spent two hours touring the base’s perimeter fence before convening an emergency briefing with Southern Command officers. In a press gaggle held under a canvas tent, he reiterated that the Pentagon had “drawn up plans for every contingency,” including a naval blockade of Cuban ports and cyber-disruption of the island’s power grid. “We are not looking for a fight,” he said, “but we are ready for one.”

The Cuban government has so far ruled out any military response, instead calling for an emergency UN Security Council session. Russia and China have both signalled their willingness to veto any US-backed resolution, while the European Union has urged restraint and offered to mediate. EU High Representative Sophie Wilmès is scheduled to meet Cuban Vice-President Salvador Valdés Mesa in Brussels on Friday to discuss “de-escalation mechanisms.”