Cuba lies just 90 miles from Florida’s shores, but it might as well be on another planet. For over six decades, this island has languished under a self-made disaster of authoritarian misrule and economic collapse. The result? A once-promising nation is now hemorrhaging its people, cozying up to America’s enemies, and sitting idle on untapped riches. It’s time to say the quiet part out loud: the United States should take charge and make Cuba a U.S. territory. This bold move would remove a strategic threat from our doorstep, rescue 10 million Cubans from a failed state, and unlock enormous economic and social benefits for America. It’s a provocative proposition – and precisely the kind of hard-hitting solution that decades of timid foreign policy has failed to deliver.
Background: Cuba’s Self-Governance Has Failed, Spectacularly
Cuba’s experiment in self-governance has been an abject failure. The communist regime in Havana has driven the economy into the ground and strangled the freedoms of its people. Basic necessities are scarce. Blackouts and fuel shortages are routine. By late 2023, Cuba’s economy was 10% smaller than it was in 2019, with officials admitting yet another year of negative growth. The Cuban people have endured four years of growing shortages of food, medicine, fuel, transportation, and electricity. When desperate citizens dared to protest in July 2021, taking to the streets by the thousands, they were met with “brutal, systematic repression” by the regime’s security forces.
Economically and socially, Cuba is in free fall. The regime’s socialist central planning has gutted productivity and sparked a humanitarian crisis. Since the collapse of its patron, the Soviet Union, Cuba has lurched from one economic lifeline to another – Venezuela’s oil, China’s loans – only to squander each opportunity. COVID-19 was the final straw, plunging Cuba into its worst crisis since the 1990s “Special Period.” The proof is in the population: Cubans are literally fleeing their homeland en masse. In just the last three years, approximately 10% of Cuba’s entire population has emigrated in a mass exodus.
It is by now conventional wisdom that the current Cuban government – first under Fidel Castro, now under his handpicked successors – has had every chance to deliver prosperity and liberty, and has failed spectacularly on both counts. The harder truth is that long before the current Marxist-Leninist farce, Cuba was already choked by ruthless oligarchs and despotic rulers. A century of Cuban “independence” has produced nothing but decay and despair. Cuba’s self-governance has remained a cruel joke, sustained only by repression at home and begging bowls abroad. Washington’s half-measures – embargoes, diplomatic freezes, token easing – have not fixed this. It’s time to admit the obvious: Cubans deserve new management. And who better than the United States, the successful democracy just a short boat ride away?
A Threat on Our Doorstep: Havana’s Deadly Alliances
Cuba is not just a failed state; it’s also a dangerous beachhead for America’s adversaries. As Havana’s communist experiment has withered, the regime has leaned into toxic friendships with the likes of China, Russia, and Venezuela. This is a national security nightmare brewing in the Florida Straits. We ignore it at our peril. Look at the facts. Cuba today maintains close relations with Russia, China, and Venezuela, all regimes hostile to American interests. While Moscow’s interest in Cuba has waned since the Cold War (apart from nostalgic posturing and the occasional Russian warship docking in Havana), Beijing’s grip has tightened. In recent years, cooperation between has deepened considerably between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Díaz-Canal regime. The PRC sees Cuba as a convenient forward base – and is wasting no time turning the island into a spy station and potential military outpost right under our nose.
Reliable reports suggest that China has built sophisticated listening posts in Cuba to snatch up electronic communications across the southeastern United States. In plain terms: Beijing is using Cuba as a giant surveillance antenna pointed at the U.S. mainland. Huawei and other Chinese tech firms have constructed much of Cuba’s telecom infrastructure, meaning the networks in Cuba are effectively extensions of China’s surveillance state. Every undersea cable and wireless signal in the Southeastern U.S. could eventually be compromised.
Havana has eagerly joined Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), accumulating debt to Chinese entities for infrastructure projects. Here’s the catch: when poor countries default on BRI loans, China often seizes strategic assets as collateral. Cuba’s economy, as noted, is in shambles – they cannot pay their debts to China. What happens when the bill comes due? The PRC could demand a military foothold in Cuba as payback. Havana’s tight partnership with Beijing and feckless economic management makes such an outcome likely as a face-saving measure for both parties. The presence of People’s Liberation Army forces off the coast of Florida should be an unacceptable outcome for U.S. policymakers, yet there has been little public discussion of how to head off the inevitable.
Venezuela, for its part, ships subsidized oil to keep Cuba’s lights on, and in return gets Cuban security and intelligence advisors propping up Maduro’s regime. Havana and Caracas are locked in a mutual lifeline of dysfunction and anti-American scheming. This rogue’s alliance only further entrenches hostile influence in our hemisphere. Cuba has become a gateway for America’s adversaries – an unsinkable aircraft carrier for anti-American operations just south of Key West.
By territorializing Cuba, the U.S. would slam this gateway shut permanently. Incorporating Cuba as an American territory would mean no more Chinese spy bases, no Russian “visits” from nuke-capable bombers, and no Venezuelan oil-for-repression deals. We could throw out the Huawei technicians and invite in Silicon Valley. We could boot out any lurking GRU agents and welcome U.S. law enforcement. The primary national security benefit of making Cuba a U.S. territory is eliminating, once and for all, the unacceptable threat of a hostile power using Cuba as a staging ground – the very scenario that nearly caused World War III in 1962.
The Economic Windfall: Resources and Riches Within Reach
Territorializing Cuba isn’t just about eliminating negatives – it’s about adding a huge positive for the United States. This island is bursting with economic potential that has been locked away by Havana’s incompetence. Under U.S. stewardship, Cuba’s resources and strategic location can be unleashed as a boon to both Cubans and Americans.
Consider Cuba’s natural resources. The communist government has left vast deposits of valuable minerals and oil virtually untouched. For instance, Cuba is sitting on an estimated 500,000 metric tons of unexploited cobalt – a mineral essential for lithium batteries and high-tech industries. That’s enough to make Cuba one of the world’s top five cobalt producers, rivaling the likes of the Congo (where, incidentally, China currently dominates the mines). Cuba also has significant untapped reserves of nickel, zinc, rare earth elements like zeolites, and petroleum. In fact, just off Cuba’s north coast lie offshore oil fields estimated at between 5 and 20 billion barrels of crude – an absolute bonanza of energy waiting to be tapped. Yet Cuba’s rulers, hamstrung primarily by their own technological ineptitude, have been unable to exploit these riches. The Cuban state lacks the modern equipment, expertise, and capital to drill deep wells or mine efficiently.
Is America going to just sit by while these resources lie fallow or get bartered away to China? We shouldn’t. Under U.S. territorial status, those vast oil reserves and mineral deposits would be accessible to American industry and developed with American know-how. Imagine the boost to U.S. energy security if billions of barrels of oil just a short tanker trip from Texas were brought online. Imagine having a secure domestic supply of cobalt and nickel – critical for EV batteries and defense technologies – no longer subject to China’s stranglehold. Territorialization makes that possible.
Beyond the resources underground, Cuba’s strategic location and human capital are an economic opportunity. This island is the crossroads of the Caribbean, commanding vital shipping lanes between the Atlantic and the Panama Canal. A U.S.-controlled Cuba could become a logistical and commercial hub: think expanded ports, naval bases, and free enterprise zones powering increased trade. American businesses would gain unfettered access to a market of 10 million consumers starved of goods and services. From agriculture to telecommunications to tourism, virtually every sector would see explosive growth once Cuba is integrated into the U.S. economic system. U.S. farmers would send shiploads of rice, corn, and meat to an island that currently faces food shortages. U.S. construction firms would get to work upgrading crumbling Cuban infrastructure. Tech and telecom companies could wire the island with state-of-the-art networks (replacing those suspect Huawei parts). Cubans are educated, and many are hungry for opportunity – could be a boon to American companies facing worker shortages in some industries. And let’s not forget tourism: Cuba’s beaches, culture, and beauty are legendary. As a U.S. territory, Cuba could rival Hawaii or Puerto Rico as a tourist paradise, pumping dollars into both the local and national economy.
In short, bringing Cuba under the U.S. flag would turn a global financial drain into an economic dynamo. Instead of Havana begging for aid or siphoning Venezuelan oil, a territorial Cuba would attract investment and create wealth. The Cuban people would finally enjoy the prosperity that comes with stable property rights and integration into the world’s largest economy. And the U.S. would benefit from new resources, new markets, and a stronger strategic position in global trade. It’s a classic win-win scenario – if we have the vision and boldness to seize it.
Not America’s First Rodeo: Precedent for U.S. Territorial Expansion
Critics will scream that this idea – the U.S. taking over Cuba – is outrageous or neo-colonial. But let’s cut the dramatics: this would not be an unprecedented move for the United States, especially in light of current geopolitical realities. The current administration has called for the acquisition of Canada and Greenland, but American history is full of instances of territorial expansion in the name of strategic and moral interests. We have done this before, and it’s worked out pretty darn well.
Flash back to the late 19th century, when the U.S. emerged as a power in the Caribbean and Pacific. In 1898, we fought the Spanish–American War precisely over places like Cuba. Although the history is complex, from 1897 through 1959, the U.S. was Cuba’s protector– we just never went the final step of making it an official U.S. territory. Meanwhile, that same war did make Puerto Rico a U.S. territory (still one today), along with Guam in the Pacific. These acquisitions were strategic moves that have stood the test of time and generated enormous economic benefits for the indigenous populations. Puerto Ricans and Guamanians today are U.S. citizens, and enjoy far higher standards of living and freedoms than their neighbors or even contemporary European powers like Spain and Portugal, and contribute to American prosperity and security. Few considers those territories a “mistake” now. Why would Cuba be any different?
Even earlier, American statesmen had their eyes on Cuba. In the 1850s, the idea of annexing Cuba was openly floated as crucial to U.S. security. The famous Ostend Manifesto of 1854 – a document by American diplomats – outright advocated U.S. seizure of Cuba from Spain, calling it a natural extension of our domain. The U.S. later occupied Cuba militarily from 1898 to 1902, and again briefly in 1906, to stabilize and guide its governance. In other words, the United States has already been deeply involved in Cuba’s governance in the past – and arguably did a better job of it than the regimes that followed.
Let’s also remember how Hawaii became a part of the U.S. – an independent kingdom turned U.S. territory (and eventually a state) because American interests and ideals were served by bringing it into the fold. Alaska was purchased from Russia and is now an inseparable part of America. The notion that U.S. territorial expansion is beyond the pale in the 21st century is a convenient fiction told by those who lack imagination or don’t mind ceding influence to rival powers. History shows that when America boldly expands its reach, it often secures peace and prosperity in the long run. Territorializing Cuba would be in line with this historical pattern of prudent expansion. It’s not about subjugating a foreign people – it’s about integrating a long-suffering neighbor into the American family, as we have done before to mutual benefit.
Far from being a reckless new imperialism, making Cuba a U.S. territory would be the fulfillment of a strategy that arguably should have happened over a century ago. We have the legal precedent, we have the historical roadmap, and most importantly, we have the moral precedent of improving lives in places that come under the Stars and Stripes. The critics who reflexively oppose the idea need to answer this: if it was acceptable for the U.S. to take in Puerto Rico, Guam, Alaska, Hawaii (and attempt to buy or take Cuba in the past), why is it not acceptable to finally do right by Cuba now? Critics might respond that integration is a risky venture akin to “nation-building” exercises that led to counterinsurgency quagmires during the Global War on Terror. However, territorial integration, unlike externally imposed democratic reconstruction, has historically demonstrated a far stronger track record of stability and prosperity. Additionally, Marxist-Leninist insurgencies have failed to achieve any lasting success in the 21st century. Empirically, Cuba’s official state ideology renders it uniquely susceptible to peaceful territorial integration due to its inability to sustain conventional military resistance and the inherent unpopularity and ideological exhaustion of Marxist-Leninism in today’s world. Bringing Cuba under the American flag is not only strategically sound but also ethically justified and historically consistent.
Some might ask, “Who are we to force change on Cuba?” But a better question is who are we to stand by and do nothing while Cubans are starved and beaten into submission? Cubans lack an independent judiciary, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly. Sovereignty is not a suicide pact; when a regime’s sovereignty only serves a clique of dictators at the expense of its people’s welfare, it loses any legitimate claim to inviolability. Moreover, countless Cubans want change – the protests showed that, the refugee wave shows that. Many in Cuba would welcome liberation if they trusted it was real and lasting. By offering territorial status, we’re not imposing a foreign yoke; we’re extending a hand of brotherhood. Recent U.S. policy, by contrast, has effectively sentenced Cubans to indefinite misery under a hated regime as long as that regime doesn’t overtly threaten us.
How to Make Cuba Great Again: Pathways to Territorialization
How do we get from here to there? It won’t be a cakewalk, but it’s far from impossible. In fact, there are several feasible pathways to achieve Cuba’s territorialization, combining economic leverage, diplomatic muscle, and political strategy. We can do this smartly, minimizing risk while staying firm on the end goal.
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Economic Leverage – “Carrot and Stick” Diplomacy: Cuba is financially on its knees. Cuba’s BRI “lifeline” has amounted to less than $200,000,000 annually – although it gives the PRC political leverage, this investment has been macroeconomically insignificant. This gives the U.S. tremendous leverage as a potential sponsor. Washington could offer Havana a deal it can’t survive without: massive economic relief in exchange for a transition. For instance, the U.S. could publicly dangle a generous development loan or aid package – say on the order of $40 billion for infrastructure and modernization – but with strict conditions. The conditions? Political liberalization, steps toward referendum on territorial status, and perhaps the peaceful exit of the current leadership. Essentially, we give the Cuban regime a choice: reform and join the U.S. orbit in a managed process or watch your economy collapse completely. Given Cuba’s inability to secure long-term financing elsewhere, this kind of “Marshall Plan for Cuba” offer could gain support among desperate Cuban officials. Of course, we know the regime’s track record – they’ll likely balk or renege. That’s where the stick comes in. If they refuse a peaceful path, the U.S. tightens the vise: stricter sanctions, naval quarantine, and international legal action to isolate Cuba’s patron states. We can make the status quo unbearably painful for the regime and simultaneously promise a golden ticket if they cooperate. Eventually, something has to give. Either the Cuban regime agrees to a U.S.-supervised transition (perhaps in exchange for immunity or exile packages for leaders), or they bankrupt themselves into revolt. Which leads to option two.
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Support a Cuban Democratic Movement – Homegrown Change: The seeds of change are already planted in Cuba – we saw them in those July 2021 protests. While the regime has tried to stomp out dissent, the discontent simmers. The U.S. should covertly and overtly support a “color revolution” in Cuba – a peaceful uprising of the Cuban people demanding new governance. During the 2021 protests, the U.S. State Department voiced support for the protesters, but we can do far more. We can beam in uncensored internet access (satellite internet or balloon systems) to break the regime’s information monopoly. We can amplify Cuban dissident voices on social media and fund secure communication tools for activists. We should work with allies in Latin America and Europe to coordinate political and logistical backing for any legitimate opposition groups. The idea is to empower Cubans to take charge of their own liberation – with the promise that if they succeed in toppling the dictatorship, the U.S. will be ready to assist in a democratic transition and offer territorial status with its accompanying economic benefits. Now, the regime will predictably crack down (they’ve imported China’s Orwellian surveillance tech to monitor social media and communications). But every crackdown only delegitimizes them further and strengthens the moral claim of the opposition. If enough Cubans stand up at once, the security forces could split – and regimes can crumble with astonishing speed once the facade of control breaks (see: Berlin Wall, 1989). The U.S. needs to be prepared to immediately engage a post-regime Cuba, to stabilize the situation and shepherd the island toward becoming a U.S. territory rather than backsliding. This means having a provisional administration plan in our back pocket, and perhaps even inviting international peacekeepers (from friendly nations) to assist until U.S. law fully takes hold.
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Last Resort – Military Action: a direct military intervention is a risky path, but the credible threat of force must be on the table to give teeth to all the above measures. The dirty little secret is that the U.S. military could take Cuba in a fight with relative ease. Thanks to declassified files, we have detailed insight into how the Pentagon envisioned the logistics and scale of a Cuba invasion. Notably, documents released in 2017 (as part of the JFK assassination records) included a 1962 Pentagon outline for invading an occupying Cuba. The plan estimated that 261,000 U.S. troops would be able to depose the regime in two weeks and with a minimum of casualties. Every subsequent simulation since then has concluded the U.S. would swiftly defeat Cuba’s armed forces and overthrow the regime. The Cuban military is a shadow of what it was during the Cold War; their aging Soviet-era hardware, small troop numbers, and overburdened military are no match for American power. The only reason this hasn’t happened is the political calculus – fear of backlash in Latin America and concern over U.S. casualties.
Contemporary critics might also add that the liberation of Cuba could be used by the PRC as a pretext for invading Taiwan. Given that Xi Jinping’s 2024 address declared that, “No one can stop” the planned annexation of Taiwan by the PRC, a successful demonstration of force by the U.S. in Cuba seems just as a likely to deter an invasion of Taiwan as to encourage it. On the other hand, if Cuba were to, say, openly invite Chinese troops or precipitate a crisis, military action might become unavoidable. We should quietly prepare for that contingency: plan an overwhelming intervention (minimizing collateral damage), perhaps framing it as a multinational humanitarian effort if possible. The ideal outcome is that the mere possibility of U.S. Marines on Cuban beaches convinces the regime to fold without a fight. A bloodless transition is worth striving for. However, America should not shrink from using force if that’s what it takes to neutralize an existential threat or end a humanitarian nightmare. Remember, JFK implemented a naval blockade and was ready to invade during the missile crisis – we must show similar resolve. In the end, whether through carrots or sticks, the goal is achieved: the end of the Castro dynasty’s legacy and the birth of a new era in Cuba under the American flag.
Towards a Grand Strategy for the Western Hemisphere
For far too long, U.S. policy on Cuba has been paralysis masked as patience. We’ve watched a tyrannical regime oppress its people and thumb its nose at us just a short hop from our border. We’ve allowed hostile powers to gain a foothold where we should rightfully be dominant. We’ve lamented the plight of Cubans and the security headaches Havana causes, yet done little to fundamentally change the equation. It’s time to finish what was started in 1898 and finally bring Cuba into the American family of territories.
Territorializing Cuba would be a game-changer. It would instantly eliminate a strategic thorn in our side, turning it into a strategic asset. It would uplift millions of Cubans from misery to hope, affirming America’s role as a champion of freedom and opportunity. It would signal to the world – and to rivals like China – that the United States still has the resolve to shape its hemisphere and won’t tolerate hostile enclaves in our backyard. And let’s be candid: it would show that American grand strategy is not dead but alive and kicking. This move would herald a new grand strategy for the Western hemisphere – a refusal to allow global adversaries, especially the People’s Republic of China, to operate in our backyard.
Naysayers will howl. They’ll warn of international blowback, scream “imperialism,” clutch their pearls about violating some abstract norm. But what is truly immoral is to let Cuba collapse and fester. What’s reckless is to wait until Beijing plants a flag on the island and we face a far costlier showdown. The world respects strength and action, not indecision. And frankly, many nations (quietly) would applaud America stepping up to solve the Cuba problem once and for all, even if they can’t say so publicly. As for the Cuban people – the ones whose lives hang in the balance – we owe them more than platitudes and endless sanctions. We owe them liberation.
