00:00I do believe I'll be the honor of having the honor of taking Cuba.
00:07President Trump has revealed that he expects to take Cuba in some form.
00:11In what has become one of the most contentious moments in the 67 years
00:15since Fidel Castro overthrew what had been a close U.S. ally,
00:19the threatening statements from Trump also come as Cuba and the United States
00:22opened talks to improve their largely adverse relationship.
00:26But why exactly would Trump want to take Cuba?
00:29Here's what you need to know.
00:31After Trump recently floated a, quote,
00:34friendly takeover of the country,
00:36Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel confirmed on March 13th
00:40that his government was in talks with the U.S.,
00:42which he described as being aimed at, quote,
00:44finding solutions through dialogue to the bilateral differences we have between the two nations.
00:49However, following the removal of Havana's socialist ally,
00:53Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power,
00:56and the U.S. and Israel's joint attack on Iran,
00:58Trump has openly mused that Cuba could be next.
01:02So we're talking to Cuba, but we're going to do Iran before Cuba.
01:06After his January 3rd raid on Caracas,
01:09Trump cut off discounted Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba
01:13and threatened to impose tariffs on any country that sold oil to the island.
01:17As a result, Cuba says it has not received an oil shipment in three months,
01:21and the country has imposed severe energy rationing, resulting in extended power outages.
01:27Much of its economy has ground to a halt.
01:29And on March 16th, Cuba's electric grid collapsed, leaving the country of 10 million people without power.
01:36According to several Cuba experts and Cuban-American lawmakers,
01:39the island's communist government has never been in a weaker state.
01:43I mean, whether I free it, take it, I think I can do anything I want with it.
01:49You want to know the truth.
01:49They're a very weakened nation right now.
01:53After Trump's comments, the New York Times reported that removing Diaz-Canel from office
01:58is a key U.S. objective in the bilateral talks.
02:01Citing four people familiar with the matter,
02:04the Times said the U.S. had signaled to Cuban negotiators that their president must go,
02:09but are leaving the next step up to the Cubans.
02:11As far as why Trump would push for a regime change in Cuba,
02:15it would certainly follow the administration's trend of moving to topple governments
02:19seen as adversarial to the U.S., such as Venezuela and Iran.
02:23The administration has previously condemned the regime's alignment with American adversaries,
02:28such as providing defense, intelligence, and security assistance to the likes of Russia,
02:32Iran, and China, identifying Cuba as a, quote,
02:36extraordinary threat to the United States.
02:38This also follows years of sanctions, diplomatic friction,
02:42and disputes over migration and security between Washington and Havana.
02:46As tensions remain elevated and Cuba's strength and bargaining power dwindles,
02:50President Trump recently issued an ominous warning to the nation.
02:54Cuba's a failed nation. Cuba also wants to make a deal,
02:59and I think we will pretty soon either make a deal or do whatever we have to do.
03:04So I think something will happen with Cuba pretty quickly.
03:08If Trump elects to move forward with an operation similar to what was executed in Venezuela,
03:12it would break a decades-long precedent in U.S. foreign policy.
03:15While more than a dozen U.S. presidents have continuously opposed Cuba's communist government
03:20and criticized its human rights record,
03:23Washington has honored its pledge not to invade Cuba
03:26or support an invasion as part of the agreement with the Soviet Union
03:30to resolve the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
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