HAVANA — In a blistering condemnation that has electrified diplomatic channels across Latin America, Cuba’s foreign minister accused the United States on Saturday of unleashing electromagnetic interference across the Caribbean, a provocative escalation tied directly to Washington’s military aggression aimed at Venezuela. Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Cuba’s seasoned top diplomat, took to social media platform X to denounce the actions as “offensive and extraordinary,” pinpointing the interference as most intense over Venezuelan airspace. The claims come amid President Donald Trump’s declaration that Venezuelan skies are now fully closed to all flights, signaling what many analysts see as the prelude to deeper US intervention in the oil-rich South American nation.
The timing could not be more charged. Just weeks after Trump’s reelection and inauguration, the US has revived long-dormant military infrastructure in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, including the Roosevelt Roads naval base, shuttered for over two decades, and civilian airports now buzzing with construction for military use. Cuban officials frame this not as routine positioning but as part of a broader “escalation of military aggression and psychological warfare” designed to topple Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro through force. Rodríguez’s statement marks a rare public invocation of electromagnetic tactics, evoking Cold War-era fears of invisible weapons that disrupt communications, navigation, and even civilian aviation without firing a shot. Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro has long warned of such electronic warfare tactics.
Revival of a Forgotten Fortress
At the heart of Cuba’s outrage lies the Roosevelt Roads base in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, a sprawling Cold War relic that once housed thousands of US troops monitoring Soviet submarines during the height of tensions in the 1980s. Abandoned in 2004 amid post-9/11 budget cuts, the facility has lain mostly dormant until this fall, when US Southern Command announced a “modernization” project. Satellite imagery and local reports confirm heavy machinery pouring concrete pads for fighter jets, while F-35 stealth aircraft have made high-profile landings at nearby airfields. Analysts interpret these moves as a direct response to Venezuela’s contested July elections, where Maduro claimed victory amid widespread fraud allegations and street protests. The Roosevelt Roads base now serves as a strategic hub just 500 miles from Caracas.
“This is no mere upgrade,” said a Puerto Rican security expert who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the base’s sensitivity. “They’re building forward operating locations that could support strikes deep into Venezuelan territory within hours.” The base’s strategic perch positions it ideally for air operations, electronic warfare, and even special forces insertions. Cuban state media has amplified these concerns, broadcasting footage of US cargo planes landing under cover of night, their holds reportedly brimming with electronic jamming equipment capable of blanketing the region in digital static.
Trump’s rhetoric has only fueled the fire. On November 29, the president posted on Truth Social: “THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.” The declaration, which echoes his first-term maximum-pressure campaign against Maduro, has grounded commercial carriers and stranded thousands, plunging Venezuela’s already crippled economy deeper into chaos. Oil exports, the lifeblood of Maduro’s regime, now face naval interdiction risks from US carriers patrolling the Caribbean Sea.
Electromagnetic Shadows Over the Caribbean
Rodríguez Parrilla’s accusation of “electromagnetic interference” taps into a shadowy arsenal long suspected in US military doctrine. Such tactics involve high-powered radio frequency emissions that can scramble GPS signals, disrupt radar, and overload communication networks, all without kinetic damage. Cuban aviation authorities reported multiple incidents of aircraft instrumentation failures near Venezuelan borders, attributing them to US assets now operational from Puerto Rico. “This is psychological warfare at its most sophisticated,” Rodríguez wrote, linking the disruptions to a pattern of US hybrid operations seen in Syria and Ukraine.
Historical precedents abound. During the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, US forces jammed Soviet communications, a tactic declassified decades later. More recently, electronic warfare pods on F-35s have been used to blind enemy air defenses in the Middle East. Venezuelan officials echoed Havana’s claims, with Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López warning of “imperialist electronic aggression” that threatens civilian flights over the Caribbean. International aviation bodies, including the International Civil Aviation Organization, have yet to comment, but regional carriers like Copa Airlines have rerouted flights to avoid the contested zone.
The interference’s intensity over Venezuela suggests targeting Maduro’s command-and-control systems. Satellite phones used by regime loyalists have reportedly gone silent, while opposition figures inside the country claim intermittent blackouts in military communications. US officials have dismissed the allegations as “baseless propaganda,” with Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell stating, “Our operations in Puerto Rico are defensive and fully compliant with international law.” Yet the optics, American jets streaking over allied skies amid Trump’s bellicose tweets, have rallied Latin America’s left-leaning governments to Caracas’s side. Iran condemns US warmongering policies against Venezuela, echoing regional concerns.
A Region on Edge
Bolivia, Nicaragua, and even Brazil’s leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva have voiced solidarity with Maduro, decrying U.S. “gunboat diplomacy.” At the United Nations, Cuban Ambassador Ronald Rodríguez used the emergency session to demand an investigation into the electromagnetic claims, waving printouts of anomalous signal data collected by Havana’s monitoring stations. “This is not 1989,” he thundered. “The Monroe Doctrine is dead. The Americas belong to all its peoples, not one hegemon.”
Behind the bluster lies genuine peril. Venezuela’s military, strained by sanctions and defections, boasts Russian-supplied S-300 systems that could complicate any US incursion. China, a major creditor holding billions in Venezuelan debt, has urged restraint while quietly shipping fuel to Maduro’s ports. Russia, too, maintains a footprint with advisors and Spetsnaz units, raising specters of great-power proxy conflict in Uncle Sam’s backyard. Lavrov announced a tour of Latin America amid rising tensions.
Domestic US politics add another layer. Trump’s base cheers the tough stance, with Florida Senator Marco Rubio hailing the Puerto Rico buildup as “long overdue.” Critics, including progressive Democrats, warn of quagmire. “Electromagnetic games today, boots on the ground tomorrow,” tweeted Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose district includes Puerto Rican constituents wary of becoming a launchpad.
Psychological Siege or Prelude to Invasion?
Political scientists trace the strategy to the Pentagon’s “Gray Zone” playbook, actions short of declared war that erode an adversary’s will. By closing airspace and jamming signals, Washington aims to isolate Maduro, starve his regime of supplies, and embolden internal dissent. Russian political analyst Sergei Markov speculated on state TV that “missile strikes to decapitate leadership” could follow, a view echoed in Western think tanks. Venezuelan President Maduro warned such escalation represents madness.
Venezuela’s humanitarian toll mounts daily. Hyperinflation has returned, food shortages plague cities, and refugee flows strain Colombia and Brazil. Maduro, defiant in televised addresses, vows “popular war” against invaders, mobilizing militias trained by Iranian advisors. Yet defections mount; a general surrendered to Colombian forces last week, citing “unwinnable odds.”
For Cuba, the stakes are existential. Havana depends on Venezuelan oil barter to survive US sanctions, and Maduro’s fall would imperil the alliance forged under Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez. Rodríguez Parrilla’s intervention thus blends solidarity with self-preservation, positioning Cuba as the Caribbean’s anti-imperial bulwark.
Global Echoes and Future Flashpoints
The crisis reverberates beyond the hemisphere. In Beijing, state media accuses Washington of “neo-colonialism,” while Moscow dispatches the nuclear cruiser Admiral Nakhimov to shadow US carriers. Europe’s NATO allies, focused on Ukraine, urge de-escalation, fearing oil shocks. Wall Street, meanwhile, eyes Venezuela’s 300 billion barrels of proven reserves, the world’s largest, as a prize dangling amid the turmoil.
As night falls over Havana’s Malecón seawall, fishermen scan southern skies for telltale contrails. Diplomatic cables fly, back channels hum, and the electromagnetic hum, real or imagined, underscores a tense new reality. Will Trump’s “next step” be negotiation or the thunder of jets? For now, the Caribbean simmers, its azure waters masking currents that could engulf the region in flames.
This story is developing rapidly. The Eastern Herald will continue monitoring US military movements, Cuban responses, and Venezuelan resilience amid the gathering storm.
