Senior US and Cuban generals held a rare meeting at Guantánamo Bay, both sides confirmed on Saturday, after reports of a potential upcoming military escalation between the two nations.
The head of US Southern Command (Southcom), General Francis Donovan, met the chief of the general staff of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, Roberto Legrá Sotolongo, at the US military base on Cuba.
During "a brief exchange" with Legrá and other representatives of the Cuban armed forces, “operational security issues” were discussed, the US military said in a post on X.
A Cuban Defence Ministry statement said that the “positive meeting” had taken place by mutual agreement and that the discussion covered issues relevant to both sides.
The statements come days after news site Axios reported Cuba has bought more than 300 military drones.
Havana reportedly began discussing plans to use the drones for attacks on the US base at Guantánamo Bay, on US military ships and possibly on Key West in the US state of Florida, the report said.
Cuba rejected the reports but reaffirmed its right to self-defence in the event of a US attack.
Relations between Washington and Havana have been strained since the revolution and further escalated under US President Donald Trump.
Washington has slammed a series of new sanctions and an oil embargo on the socialist Caribbean island nation, seeking to bring about regime change in US interests through the increase in pressure.
