General Francis Donovan, the head of the U.S. military's Southern Command overseeing forces in Latin America, held a rare meeting on Friday with senior Cuban military officials. The exchange, which focused on operational security matters, took place at the perimeter of the U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in southeastern Cuba.
The meeting occurred at a base notorious for serving as a site where terror suspects were tortured in the years following 9/11. This interaction follows a rare visit to Havana earlier in May by CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
The encounter comes amid deteriorating relations between the United States and Cuba, as the Trump administration maintains a virtual blockade of the island nation and demands drastic reforms from its communist government. President Trump has not ruled out military action and previously warned that Cuba is next after U.S. forces captured Venezuela's autocratic leader, Nicolás Maduro, in a January raid.
These developments have led to growing concerns of a possible U.S. military attack on the Communist-run island.