US Surveillance Flights Over Cuba Have Increased Since Early February

"CNN reported Sunday that the U.S. Navy and Air Force have conducted more than two dozen surveillance flights - mostly of them near Havana and Santiago de Cuba, the country's largest cities - since early February, after the Trump administration invaded Venezuela and kidnapped its president. The outlet noted that "similar patterns, in which ramped-up rhetoric by the Trump administration coincided with an uptick in publicly visible surveillance flights, occurred in the lead-up to U.S. military operations in both Venezuela and Iran.""

""The flights are notable not only for their proximity to the coast, which puts them well within range of gathering intelligence, but for the suddenness of their appearance - prior to February, such publicly visible flights were exceedingly rare in this area - and for their timing," CNN reported. The change in visibility and location has made the flights more noticeable to observers near Cuba’s major cities."

"CNN published its story days after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced new sanctions targeting a conglomerate operated by Cuba's military and a natural resources firm, intensifying the United States ' decades-long economic war against the island nation. The sanctions add pressure while the surveillance activity remains concentrated near Havana and Santiago de Cuba."

""Our people already know the cruelty behind the actions of the U.S. government and the viciousness with which it is capable of attacking us," Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said in response to the sanctions. "They understand, just as the rest of the world does, that this is a unilateral""

U.S. Navy and Air Force surveillance and reconnaissance flights off Cuba’s coast have increased in recent months. Most flights have occurred near Havana and Santiago de Cuba since early February. The flights are notable for their proximity to shore, their sudden appearance after being rare before February, and their timing alongside escalating U.S. rhetoric. CNN reported that similar patterns occurred before U.S. military operations in Venezuela and Iran, where heightened rhetoric coincided with more visible surveillance. The increase follows new U.S. sanctions announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio targeting a conglomerate run by Cuba’s military and a natural resources firm. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel condemned the sanctions as cruel and unilateral.

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