No. of Recommendations: 5
Rubio said so in the presser. Cuba is the next target. But where is the personal profit for Trump in Cuba? If he doesn't see enough profit to be interesting, Rubio can bleat all he wants, he isn't getting his Bay Of Pigs II.
The rumor among los exilios (or at least my mother-in-law's rather sprawling collection of viejitas) is that he might be interested in Cuba's tourist potential for more Trump hotels.
But I wasn't really talking about that. Or any "next" action. That sort of thing is intensely speculative. Rather, I think that Rubio is acutely aware that Cuba needs Venezuela's oil to survive - and so this action may be enough to bring the Cuban government to the point of collapse, if the U.S. can get control over PdVSA. Venezuela provides the lion's share of Cuba's oil imports - which combined with Russia sanctions making a lot of Russian oil inaccessible, have been inadequate for Cuba's needs for a while now. Just increased pressure on Venezuela's "shadow fleet" of oil tankers was making Cuba nervous last month. If Rubio can get the PdVSA spigot closed off for Cuba, it could be game over for the government there.
And again - Rubio is absolutely aware of that dynamic, and I would not be surprised if that was very top of mind for him during this whole operation.
