The Trump administration has begun considering a military intervention in Cuba following the failure of attempts to achieve change on the island through harsh economic sanctions and a fuel blockade, Politico reported, citing sources.

According to the publication, the initial calculation was that a combination of tightened sanctions—essentially an oil blockade—and obvious US military successes in Venezuela and Iran would intimidate the Cubans into making a deal. However, the situation with Iran has now "gone awry," and the Cubans "have proven much more resilient than initially thought." Therefore, the issue of military action is now "higher on the agenda than ever before."

The Pentagon's potential range of actions, according to the newspaper, ranges from a single airstrike aimed at forcing concessions from the Cuban government to a full-scale ground intervention aimed at a complete regime change on the island. In recent weeks, the US Southern Command has begun a cycle of operational planning, effectively beginning to prepare scenarios for a possible invasion.

Earlier, on May 14, CIA Director John Ratcliffe visited Havana at the head of an American delegation and met with representatives of the Cuban Interior Ministry. On Saturday, The New York Times reported that senior US officials are considering the possibility of capturing former Cuban leader Raúl Castro in a "Venezuelan scenario" (similar to the kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro).

On January 29, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order authorizing tariffs on imports from countries supplying oil to Cuba and declared a state of emergency due to an alleged threat to national security from Havana. The island's government claimed that the US is using the energy blockade to stifle the country's economy and make living conditions unbearable.