LatinNews Daily - 18 May 2026

*French shipping company CMA CGM and German shipping firm Hapag-Lloyd AG have suspended all bookings to and from Cuba until further notice, according to a Reuters report citing two sources with direct knowledge of the situation. The decisions, which according to Reuters could affect as much as 60% of ​Cuba’s shipping traffic by volume, are in response to the 1 May executive order issued by US President Donald Trump which expanded economic sanctions on Cuba and threatened to target foreign companies that partner with the Cuban government, among other things. This has already led other foreign firms including Canadian miner Sherritt International, Cuba’s top investor, to suspend operations in joint ventures with state-owned companies in Cuba. The latest sign of the impact of Trump’s ramping up of sanctions comes as bilateral tensions continue to rise. Most recently in a social media post yesterday Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez accused the US of fabricating a “fraudulent case” to justify “economic war, spying on the Cuban people and an eventual military aggression”, adding that Cuba had “the legitimate right to defend itself”. This followed an exclusive report by US media outlet Axios claiming that Cuba had “acquired more than 300 military drones and recently began discussing plans to use them to attack the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, U.S. military vessels and possibly Key West, [Florida], 90 miles north of Havana”, citing “classified intelligence” shared with the outlet. The same report, which follows mounting speculation about US military intentions in Cuba, suggests that the intelligence “could become a pretext for U.S. military action”. It states that while “U.S. officials don't believe Cuba is an imminent threat, or actively planning to attack American interests… U.S intelligence indicates the island's military officials have been discussing drone warfare plans in case hostilities erupt as relations with the U.S. continue to deteriorate”.

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