Cuba's national power grid has collapsed for the third time in less than 10 days, plunging the communist-run Caribbean island into darkness and leaving roughly 10 million people without electricity. The cascading failures show the regime's accelerating loss of control over critical infrastructure, just as senior U.S. defense officials evaluate potential military options aimed at regime change in Havana.
CBS News reported that senior U.S. defense officials have reviewed early-stage military options for Cuba, including an Army-led air assault involving thousands of troops from the 101st Airborne Division.
More color from the report:
Military planners have in recent weeks examined a range of options for possible action against the island, including an Army-led air assault involving thousands of U.S. soldiers to be carried out by the 101st Airborne Division, the only unit trained for such a task, according to multiple U.S. officials with knowledge of the discussions.
The officials, who spoke to CBS News under condition of anonymity to discuss national security matters, stressed that the briefings are not an indication that President Trump or the Pentagon have decided to carry out an operation.
Any regime-change operation could face constraints because U.S. aircraft, intelligence assets, and offensive capabilities have been shifted to the Gulf region, where fighting has flared up again over the past week.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio continues to favor a negotiated transition toward a new government willing to pursue economic reforms after decades of destructive communist policies that transformed the Caribbean island into a Marxist hellhole.
On Monday, President Trump told reporters that his team is investigating whether Iran has stockpiled suicide drones in Cuba.
When asked by a reporter about the purported intelligence report on drones stockpiled in Cuba, Trump replied: "If they have them, and it's very possible that they do, we'll take care of it."
Trump also suggested that the communists on the island might be storing Iranian missiles, something his administration "is looking into right now."
Recall that in early February, we were the first to raise the question of the possible drone threat originating from Cuba. Axios followed in May, and now the administration appears to be discussing the threat more frequently.
Rubio has also sanctioned several Cuban entities, including ICAP, which may be at the center of a foreign subversion network potentially linked to the Democratic Socialists of America.
The independent Cuban news outlet ADN Cuba recently leaked a memo stating that far-left activists in the U.S. are prepared to launch rapid-response protests at federal buildings, military bases, recruitment centers, and ICE facilities in the event of a military confrontation between the U.S. military and the communist regime in Havana.