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\n Cubans attends a rally in Havana, Jan. 3, 2026, in solidarity with Venezuela after the U.S. captured President Nicolas Maduro and flew him out of Venezuela.<\/p>\n
Ramon Espinosa\/AP<\/p>\n
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Ramon Espinosa\/AP<\/p>\n
PLAYA GIRON, Cuba \u2014In the small town of Playa Gir\u00f3n, history looms large. There isn’t much here. The water is turquoise. The homes are low-slung. But in 1961, at the mouth of the Bay of Pigs, this was the site of a failed, U.S.-backed invasion aimed at toppling a young Fidel Castro.
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Inside the Gir\u00f3n Museum, director Dulce Mar\u00eda Limonta del Pozo gestures toward tanks and artillery used by Cuban forces to repel the assault.
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“The plan,” she says, “was to establish a beachhead and form a transitional government.”
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With his attack on Venezuela, President Trump has brought an almost 200-year-old political idea back into the spotlight. The Monroe Doctrine is the belief that the Western Hemisphere falls within the United States’ exclusive sphere of influence.<\/p>\n
“It showed the people we should not fear an empire” <\/p>\n
Few countries understand the consequences of that doctrine more intimately than Cuba. And after Washington’s dramatic intervention in Venezuela, the island is once again in the U.S. crosshairs. “It showed the people that we should not fear an empire,” Limonta del Pozo says.<\/p>\n \n Fidel Castro points out damaged cottages at Playa Giron on June 16, 1961.<\/p>\n AP Photo\/BS\/AP<\/p>\n hide caption\n <\/p>\n toggle caption<\/p>\n AP Photo\/BS\/AP<\/p>\n That lesson still shapes how Cuba views Washington. Trump revives Monroe Doctrine <\/p>\n President Trump has openly revived those ambitions.\u00a0 Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, en route to Washington, D.C., Trump predicted that Cuba’s communist government could soon collapse.
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To Limonta del Pozo, the attempted invasion in Cuba in 1961 \u00a0marks a pivotal moment for the Monroe Doctrine<\/a> because the invasion failed spectacularly. While historians might argue over the details, Cuba bills it as the first time the United States was defeated militarily in the Americas.<\/p>\n![\"Fidel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767621910_768_.jpeg\")
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The Cuban government, led by President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel, sees American expansionism as embedded in U.S. history – beginning shortly after independence with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, when the United States began systematically pushing European powers out of the hemisphere.
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“Expansionism is in their veins. We are talking about historical ideas and strategies designed more than 200 years ago,” says Alejandro Garc\u00eda del Toro, who handles bilateral relations with the U.S. government. “So, you cannot be surprised.”
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“Cuba looks like it’s ready to fall,” he said, noting the island’s reliance on Venezuela’s subsidized oil. But he dismissed the idea that U.S. troops would intervene directly. “I don’t think we need any action. It looks like it’s going down.”
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It’s a sentiment frequently echoed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The son of Cuban immigrants and a long-time Cuba hawk, Rubio offered a warning for Havana over the weekend.
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“If I lived in Havana, and I was in the government, I’d be concerned \u2014 at least a little bit,” he said.
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Venezuela and Cuba have long been close allies: Venezuela has supplied Cuba with subsidized oil for decades, and in return Cuba has provided medical workers and security personnel.<\/p>\n
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