Cuba performs military exercise in times of high tension with the US

O Cuba’s government initiated the Strategic Exercise “Moncada 2026”, taking place today and Thursday throughout the country as preparation for a possible US military aggression, in a context of high tension with the United States.

The island’s National Defense Council reported that the military exercise aims to “continue to raise the level of preparation and cohesion of the governing and command bodies, troops, the territorial defensive system and the economy in all instances to face any variant of aggression.”.

The Council’s note, widely disseminated by the island’s state media, said that it will take place on Friday, November 6, the National Defense Day, in which the population will participate “in various tasks related to the preparation for defense” of the country.

The “Moncada” exercise is “the highest and most complex way of preparing the heads and governing bodies of the country,” according to a report by the Latin Press agency.

The island’s National Defense Council pointed out that these exercises “are carried out on the ground, through the occupation of management and command posts of practice and allow exchange of information and organize cooperation in conditions closest to the reality of the war”.

The Havana Government has repeatedly denounced for months that Washington threatens it with military intervention and has therefore resumed its strategy of involving the entire population with preparatory exercises for this possible scenario.

American President Donald Trump said on October 23, at an election campaign rally in Florida, that U.S. ships will “pass” through Cuba after the war in Iran and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will deal with the island’s situation.

“What we will do with Cuba is we will return from Iran, with these beautiful boats, we will go through Cuba, we will make one of them stop about 45 meters from the coast. They will raise their hands and then we will send Marco Rubio to close the agreement ", Trump commented.

The US Administration has been pushing the Cuban Government since January to create profound reforms in its economic system and political regime, something Havana refuses, claiming that these matters are “within national sovereignty and are not negotiable”.

To increase the pressure on the island, Washington imposed an oil blockade that exacerbated the energy crisis that Cuba was already suffering, which added a series of additional sanctions on people or entities operating in key sectors of the island, such as energy, defense, finance and mining.

These US measures, plus unsuccessful national policies, have exacerbated the energy and economic crisis that has been raging for several years in Cuba, which has led to prolonged electricity cuts, scarcity of basic products, impacts on essential services, galloping inflation and increasing partial dollarization.