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President Donald Trump poses for a photo at the start of the “Shield of the Americas” Summit at Trump National Doral in Miami, Florida, March 7, 2026. President Trump is hosting a dozen right-wing leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean to discuss issues facing the region, from organized crime to illegal immigration. The summit also aims to serve Washington by boosting US interests in the region and curbing those from foreign powers like China. <\/p>\n
SAUL LOEB<\/p>\n
AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Miami Republican lawmaker Carlos Gim\u00e9nez<\/a> says he believes the communist regime in his native Cuba is near its end, echoing comments by President Trump ahead of Saturday\u2019s gathering of a dozen Latin American leaders in Doral.<\/p>\n \u201cHe believes the days are close. I believe the president,\u201d Gim\u00e9nez said as he attended a welcome reception Friday for Trump\u2019s Shield of the Americas Summit. \u201cIf I had to bet, I would say this regime\u2019s days are numbered, and I\u2019m not talking years, I\u2019m talking days.\u201d<\/p>\n Gim\u00e9nez said the Cuban regime has never been in a weaker state than it is right now. In addition to looking forward to its demise, he\u2019s hoping that charges will be brought in the U.S. against Raul Castro and other high-ranking Cuban officials for a variety of crimes against the people of the United States, including the 1996 shoot-down of two Brothers to the Rescue planes in 1996.<\/p>\n \u201cThose four Americans that were downed by the Cuban government at the order of Raul Castro, they deserve justice,\u201d the congressman, who was born in Cuba and migrated to the United States in 1960, said. \u201cYes, 30 years later; it may be justice delayed, but they deserve justice.\u201d<\/p>\n Cuba is not among the nations invited to the summit<\/a>, which has been billed by the administration as a meeting of \u201cour strongest like-minded allies in our hemisphere to promote freedom, security and prosperity in our region.\u201d<\/p>\n But as invitees prepared to meet with Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the president\u2019s golf resort in Doral on Saturday, Cuba\u2019s political future loomed large over the gathering.<\/p>\n \u201cCuban society is waiting\u201d for the world to make them a priority, Bolivia President-elect Rodrigo Paz Pereira said. \u201cIt will be sooner than expected, and that will happen very soon.\u201d<\/p>\n Paz, along with Chiles\u2019s president-elect and the foreign minister of Costa Rica, were among those who attended the reception and addressed the press along with Gim\u00e9nez, fellow Miami Republican U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar and Doral Mayor Christi Fraga.<\/p>\n Paz said his presence at the summit reflects what he describes as Bolivia\u2019s \u201cdiplomatic pragmatism,\u201d as his government seeks to strengthen relations with the United States and other Latin American countries.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has a new opportunity to move forward,\u201d he said of Bolivia. \u201cAnd it is about cooperation and growth.\u201d<\/p>\n READ MORE: U.S. calls on allies in hemisphere to intensify fight against drug cartels<\/a><\/p>\n Costa Rica Foreign Minister Arnoldo Andr\u00e9 Tinoco also welcomed the opportunity to meet with Trump and discuss regional challenges, including narcotrafficking and the instability in Haiti, where armed gangs have helped fueled violence and migration pressures across the region, and Cuba, whose humanitarian crisis grows worse by the day. He noted that in 2023 his nation was flooded with migrants using his country as a pass through to the U.S., but today that number has dropped \u201cto zero.\u201d Still, he hopes for the opportunity to discuss migration.<\/p>\n But attention inside the press room repeatedly turned to Cuba.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a glorious moment for the United States and the Western Hemisphere, that Cuba, which is the mothership of evil in the Western Hemisphere, is about to fold,\u201d Salazar said as she praised the gathering and Trump\u2019s focus on the region.<\/p>\n Salazar acknowledged the ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Cuba.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we do know that the decision has been made by the White House to put an end to that regime that is in the business of power and has no other desire than to enrich themselves and to retain their interests in power and not feed the population, not give them electricity or water or medicine or clothes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n As Trump welcomed leaders Saturday<\/a> to the city known as \u201cDoralzuela\u201d because of its large Venezuelan population, he told the room that he was personally involved in negotiations over Cuba\u2019s future \u2014 and reiterated its imminent fall.<\/p>\n \u201cCuba\u2019s at the end of the line, they\u2019re very much at the end of the line,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019ll have a great new life, but it\u2019s in its last moments of life the way it is.\u201d<\/p>\n Challenge in Cuba lingers<\/p>\n Salazar said recovery in Cuba will be challenging: \u201cThe big question is how can we reconstruct that island that has been destroyed after 60 years of communism? And that is a challenge that South Florida has.\u201d<\/p>\n A dozen leaders were invited to participate in the summit. The number was fewer than those who attended a narco-trafficking conferenc<\/a>e on Thursday at the U.S. Southern Command headquarters, also in Doral.<\/p>\n Salazar said she did not know the specifics of Saturday\u2019s agenda, but was \u201cgrateful\u201d that the leaders came to South Florida. Their presence, she added, shows \u201cPresident Trump is putting America first by engaging with our neighbors because like Marco Rubio said, \u2018Anything that happens in the Western Hemisphere, it gets to us much faster because of the proximity\u201d<\/p>\n Doral\u2019s mayor emphasized the importance of South Florida \u2014 and her city \u2014 to Latin America.<\/p>\n \u201cMiami-Dade County has become one of the most important economic and diplomatic crossroads of the Americas, and the city of Doral sits right in the center of that ecosystem, a city built in on to international business and entrepreneurship and global connectivity for our community,\u201d Fraga said.<\/p>\n Events like the summit, she added, bring economic benefits to local businesses, hotels and restaurants while strengthening relationships with international leaders and investors.<\/p>\n Fraga, who is Cuban-American, also expressed hope for changes in Cuba. \u201cWe\u2019re all very hopeful that this will be a time to see many nations free.\u201d<\/p>\n This story was originally published March 7, 2026 at 12:45 PM.<\/p>\n