In an open letter addressed to the Secretaries of Defense, Pete Hegseth; State, Marco Rubio; and Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, 32 legislators, led by Democratic Representative Delia Ramirez of Illinois, also called for the lifting of unilateral coercive measures against the island.

They warned that any military action “would be illegal, deeply destabilizing and catastrophic for the Cuban people, in addition to increasing displacement, exacerbating mass suffering, and undermining US interests in the region.”

They also stated that the idea of ​​any eventual use of force against the island “must be categorically rejected” and demanded that the federal government halt the use of the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, the portion of Cuban territory occupied by Cuba (in the easternmost part of the country), for the detention of immigrants.

President Donald Trump and his Secretary of State Marco Rubio have repeatedly escalated their threatening rhetoric toward Cuba while brutally reinforcing the embargo. Trump has referred to “taking over Cuba” while tightening the screws on fuel shipments to the island.

The long-standing goal of regime change resurfaced with greater intensity after the U.S. special forces attack on January 3rd to kidnap the constitutional president, Nicolas Maduro, in Venezuela.

A senior official from the Department of Defense (or the Department of War, as the current administration renamed it without congressional authorization) informed the Capitol that in the event of a “humanitarian crisis” in Cuba, a camp would be established at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base to “manage” the migrants.

But “such a proposal is deeply alarming and unacceptable,” emphasized the representatives, who insisted that “this raises serious concerns about the use of a U.S. military installation with a well-documented history of abuses.”

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