Cuba: Chief of the Armed Forces follows exercises amid the crisis with the USA

The Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba, Army General Álvaro López Miera, supervised military exercises in the Mayabeque region, about 40 kilometers east of Havana, Cuban state media reported this Friday (29).

According to the state broadcaster's report, the training focused on handling artillery, optical instruments, communications equipment and shooting exercises.

The exercises come as Cuba's deputy foreign minister, Josefina Vidal, warned this week that the risk of US military aggression against the island is increasing amid the standstill in negotiations between the two countries.

Under the government of President Donald Trump, the United States imposed, in practice, a blockade on Cuba by threatening to apply sanctions to countries that supply fuel to the island, causing blackouts and worsening the worst Cuban crisis in decades.

In the latest escalation of Trump's pressure campaign against Cuba's communist government, the United States has brought criminal charges against former President Raúl Castro related to the 1996 downing of civilian aircraft operated by Cuban exiles based in Miami.

This Friday, the American general who oversees forces in Latin America held a rare meeting with Cuban officials in the area of the United States Naval Base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

General Francis Donovan, head of U.S. Southern Command, briefly discussed operational security issues with the Cuban delegation.

The meeting follows a rare visit by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Ratcliffe to Havana this month.

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Source: CNN