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Cuba holds defence panel meeting amid tension with US

By AFP
January 19, 2026
A Cuban flag is displayed near the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba September 17, 2025.—Reuters
A Cuban flag is displayed near the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba September 17, 2025.—Reuters 

HAVANA: Cuba held a meeting of a key national defence committee to assess its readiness for war, state-run media said Sunday as tensions run high with the United States after the ouster of Venezuela´s Nicolas Maduro.

President Donald Trump has been ramping up pressure on Cuba, one of the few Latin American countries still run by an authoritarian leftist administration after US special forces seized Havana´s ally Maduro and his wife on January 3. The National Defence Committee is supposed to take control of Cuba in case of war or a natural disaster.

It met Saturday “to increase and perfect the level of preparation and cohesion of the leadership and personnel organs,” said a statement published in state media.