“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO! I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.”
Trump did not specify the terms of a deal or the consequences Cuba could face.
He also referenced the raid to seize Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who are facing drug trafficking and other charges in a US court.
Cuba has for years supplied Maduro with his personal security detail. The Cuban government said 32 of its nationals were killed during the US operation in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.
Trump said: “Most of those Cubans are DEAD from last week’s U.S.A. attack, and Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years.”
“Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”
The Cuban government is yet to respond to Trump’s latest threats, but President Miguel DÃaz-Canel previously said the 32 “brave Cuban combatants” who died in Venezuela would be honoured for “taking on the terrorists in imperial uniforms”.
While the Trump administration has not stated clear plans for Cuba, Trump has previously said that US military intervention is not needed, because the country is “ready to fall”.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week indicated Cuba’s leaders should be worried, saying that he would be “concerned” if he was in the Cuban government and that “they’re in a lot of trouble”.
On Sunday, Trump also re-posted on social media a message suggesting that Rubio – a Cuban-American former Florida senator and the son of Cuban exiles – could become president of Cuba.
Trump shared that post with the comment: “Sounds good to me!”
The Trump administration’s tactic of confiscating sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers has already begun to worsen a fuel and electricity crisis in Cuba.