Cubans worry Trump will ‘bomb metropolis and kill individuals’ as Havana ‘may fall like Venezuela’

Cubans are in fear that the United States could bomb Havana and kill civilians, with many warning that the island “could be next” following the US military operation that captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.

When Maduro and Flores were captured and taken out of Venezuela by military forces in the early hours of Saturday morning, a group of young Cubans were celebrating a birthday at a house in Havana’s Vedado neighbourhood. The gathering, initially filled with music, jokes and drinks, took a darker turn after an alert appeared on the hostess’ phone announcing the US strike on Caracas as part of the operation against the Venezuelan leader.

Shock quickly gave way to fear, with some guests saying that “Cuba could be next” as they watched videos of an event that, despite repeated predictions, had seemed improbable to many.

“The first reaction was disbelief,” said the hostess, a 26-year-old Havana native who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals. “Maduro is a dictator who was illegitimately occupying power, but the United States has no right to carry out a military intervention in any country. It’s difficult to take sides in these circumstances: on the one hand, you feel a certain excitement that things will change and that the new scenario will be positive,” reports El Pais.

“On the other hand, we know that these kinds of foreign interventions don’t end well. The fear of them bombing your city and killing your people becomes terrifying.”

Two days after the operation, which resulted in Maduro and Flores being imprisoned in a Brooklyn jail, the Cuban government issued a statement of condolence for the deaths of 32 Cuban military personnel who were part of the Venezuelan president’s security detail at the time of his capture.

Authorities also declared two days of national mourning. At the same time, Cubans have been trying to assess what the fall of a long-standing ally, though one already in decline, could mean for the island and whether Cuba itself could become Washington’s next target, as suggested by comments from US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

On Saturday morning, news of the US operation spread across the island through state television channels such as Cuban Television, Telesur and Russia Today, messages from relatives abroad, and social media, where memes and AI-generated images about the arrest circulated widely.

Cuban authorities simultaneously called for a rally outside the US diplomatic mission at Havana’s Anti-Imperialist Tribune on the Malecón. By mid-morning, thousands of people had gathered to express support for Chavismo and to demand proof of life for Maduro, who had not yet been presented publicly by US authorities.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel denounced the US action as “state terrorism,” reaffirmed Latin America as a “zone of peace” and said it was “a time for defining positions”, declaring that Cuba would stand with Venezuela and that he was prepared to shed his own blood for the country.

Among those listening was Karla Picart, a professor at the University of Havana’s School of Communication, who said: “They have taken off their masks and are no longer even trying to hide it”, in reference to a press conference held the same day by Trump, who said the United States would take control of Venezuela and its oil industry until a reliable transition was achieved.

At that press conference, held at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort hours after Maduro’s capture, the president also said that his administration would eventually address Cuba because, he claimed, “it’s a failed nation”. Rubio, appearing alongside Trump, warned that if he lived in Havana and were part of the government he’d “be concerned”.

Deep ideological divisions among Cubans, both on and off the island, have been reflected in reactions to Maduro’s capture. While Cuban authorities and their supporters describe the event as a “kidnapping”, many Cubans in exile, and some on the island, have celebrated the US operation with memes and posts predicting a similar fate for Cuba’s leadership.

Cristal, a 30-year-old Havana resident, said: “So now it turns out that María Corina doesn’t have the support of the United States? I understand the feelings of many Venezuelans who are happy with what has happened. They got rid of that guy, a dictator who has imprisoned so many people, who has violated human rights.

“And I don’t care if it’s the result of foreign intervention. Venezuelans, and us Cubans, have already lost that patriotic feeling of putting sovereignty above all else. People who are hungry and in need want something better for their lives and they don’t care how it comes. I think many Cubans are seeing hope, even in something that might not be hopeful at all.”

As events continue to unfold, uncertainty has become the dominant sentiment. “The watchword now is uncertainty,” said Fabio Fernández, a historian and professor at the University of Havana, who questioned whether Chavismo could consolidate without Maduro. He warned that the situation could quickly shift toward Cuba, with potentially severe consequences.

“Will the commitments between Cuba and Venezuela be maintained? Will Venezuelan oil continue to arrive in Cuba? What will become of the Cuban collaborators in the country? How will these collaborators be relocated if, suddenly, the ties are severed? What will be the economic impact of all this on Cuba?” Fernández asked. “These are complex questions, and if the answer is that Chavismo collapses and Venezuela changes, the implications for Cuba will be dire.”

Although Venezuelan aid to Cuba has declined in recent years alongside Venezuela’s economic crisis, PDVSA documents show that as recently as September 2025, Venezuela was sending 52,000 barrels of oil per day to the island, the highest monthly figure of that year.

Fernández said a definitive fall of Chavismo could push Cuba into a crisis far deeper than its current one, particularly as the island is “in the crosshairs of Trump and Marco Rubio”, as both have acknowledged. He described the situation as “an exercise in the politics of force” and “a revival of the Monroe Doctrine”, in which the United States seeks to define its sphere of influence.

For now, Cubans remain closely focused on developments in Venezuela, trying to anticipate what they see as an increasingly unpredictable and threatening regional landscape.