US military chief Hegseth warns Cuba against acquiring military arms

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has warned that Cuba could invite confrontation with the United States if it seeks to bolster its military capabilities with new purchases.

Wednesday’s comments come as US President Donald Trump continues to threaten possible military intervention on the Caribbean island.

“It would be unwise of the government of Cuba to try to procure or get access to the types of weapons that could reach this base or the American homeland,” Hegseth said during a visit to the US military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

“They would be inviting the kind of confrontation not only do they not want but they could not stand. No country on Earth can match the capabilities of the United States of America.”

Hegseth did not offer specifics about the type of military weaponry Cuba might seek.

But his remarks follow a May report in the news outlet Axios stating that the country had acquired more than 300 military drones that could potentially be used against US forces.

Cuba sits roughly 140 kilometres, or 90 miles, from the southern tip of Florida, and the island’s communist leadership has long had a tense relationship with the US government.

Since the Axios report was released, Cuba has reiterated that it is not a threat to the US. It has also underscored that it has the right to defend itself, and it accused the US of “fabricating pretexts” and “creating and spreading falsehoods” to justify “potential aggression”.

Still, friction has increased between the two countries since Trump returned to office in 2025.

Following an attack on January 3 to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Trump has threatened to take military action elsewhere in Latin America, including in Cuba.

He has also imposed a de facto energy blockade on Cuba, threatening tariffs against any country that supplies the island with oil. The resulting fuel shortages have caused energy blackouts across the country, as well as scarcities of other basic supplies.

Earlier this week, Volker Turk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, slammed the US restrictions as having an outsized impact on the most vulnerable members of Cuban society.