President Trump on Saturday opened the Shield of the Americas Summit — a gathering of Latin American leaders — and pledged to “take care of Cuba” as the United States increases its involvement in the region. Speaking at the Trump National Doral Miami golf course in Doral, Florida, Trump said several attendees had asked him to address Cuba’s government, and he told the audience, “I’ll take care of it,” drawing applause.
Leaders from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago attended the meeting. The remarks come amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Cuba and amid hopes among many Cuban-Americans for a change in Cuba’s communist leadership.
The Trump administration has eased restrictions on Venezuelan oil, permitting some private-sector sales to Cuba as the island faces fuel shortages and widespread blackouts. Following the U.S. arrest of Venezuela’s former president Nicolás Maduro in January, critics of Cuba’s government have interpreted Trump’s comments as a signal the U.S. might support efforts to remove Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel.
Trump also praised acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez for cooperating with the United States after Maduro’s ouster. “She’s doing a great job because she’s working with us,” he said, adding that without U.S. cooperation he would judge her performance differently. He credited U.S. oil exports and anticipated gold and mineral trades with improving Venezuela’s economic outlook.
Trump has described the change in Venezuela’s leadership as a model for regime change, and his comments at the summit underscore an increasingly interventionist U.S. posture in Latin America.