CBS News obtained an internal Army Reserve message asking commanders about the availability of military police, engineers, medical units, battlefield surgical capacity, and major logistics forces that could be needed by the U.S. Southern Command in 90 to 120 days. Furthermore, multiple U.S. officials told CBS News that the continuing military planning is focused on Cuba.

President Trump said that he did not believe military force would be necessary and that the U.S. and Cuba will “make a deal.” But we heard similar language around Venezuela. Even after U.S. forces carried out a military operation there and kidnapped Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores, Trump insisted there was no war on Venezuela. So Trump’s choice of words offers little reassurance as the Pentagon prepares for a possible military action involving Cuba.

Ask the governments of Canada and Mexico to publicly state that they oppose U.S. military action against Cuba or any attempt to impose regime change on the island. Ask them to offer themselves as mediators to improve U.S.-Cuban relations and help prevent a war. 

A Personal Note
Medea Benjamin / CODEPINK

I cannot stop thinking about that 90 to 120 day timeline.

I’ve spent decades organizing against U.S. wars. I co-founded CODEPINK in 2002 as the Bush administration was building the case for the invasion of Iraq, and I remember how quickly threats and military preparations became normalized before the bombs started falling. We’ve seen this pattern too many times, and with Cuba, we cannot wait until the bombs are falling to speak up. 

I have traveled to Cuba so many times and what stays with me the most is that despite everything the U.S. government has done to make their lives harder, Cubans have never treated us, Americans, as enemies. I have been welcomed to their homes, shared meals with their families, laughed with them, danced with them, sang with them, listened to their stories, and witnessed both their struggle and their extraordinary generosity. Again and again, all they want is just to live in peace. 

We talk so often about how resilient the Cuban people are. But have we stopped for one second to ask ourselves how incredibly unfair it is that they have been forced to be so resilient? Generation after generation has had to find ways to survive a policy imposed by a neighboring superpower. They don’t want charity from us. They just want the U.S. government to stop making their lives harder, they want respect for their sovereignty, and they want to be able to build their own future in peace.

Mexico and Canada have had a long history of good relations with Cuba — and the U.S. They are big countries, and their voices are critical right now. This is the moment for Cuba’s neighbors to use diplomacy to prevent a devastating war in our hemisphere. 

Tell Mexico and Canada: Say NO to war on Cuba and offer your services as mediators!

In solidarity,
Medea

• Trump took his regime-change rhetoric against Cuba directly to the United Nations. Speaking before the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), he called Cuba an “absolutely failed state,” said his administration was seeking a “fundamental change” on the island, and declared “freedom will be coming to Cuba.” The next day, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. was willing to talk with Cuba about a political transition towards new leadership. This came after the same U.N. speech in which Trump celebrated U.S. military actions in Venezuela.
• Cuba says it’s ready to dialogue with Washington, but not under threats or coercion. Speaking at the UNGA, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said Cuba is open to trade and commercial relations with U.S. companies and that Cuba is prepared to resolve bilateral differences through dialogue based on respect, sovereignty, respect for international law, and without preconditions.
• There is already a model for countries acting together when international law is threatened. The Hague Group, created by countries including Colombia and South Africa to coordinate diplomatic and legal action in defense of international law, convened a high level meeting just days ago. Representatives from nearly 40 countries came together to discuss moving from rhetoric to enforcement, addressing impunity, and resisting U.S. threats of sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC). This meeting offers one example of governments attempting to coordinate efforts when international law is at risk. Now Mexico and Canada, as two of the United States’ closest neighbors and countries that maintain diplomatic relations with Cuba, have an important role to play in preventing another war in the region.
• The Trump administration has deported more than 25,000 people to countries that are not their own. More than 4,300 Cubans were deported from the U.S. to Mexico between January 2025 and March 2026, including people who have lived in the U.S. for decades. Others have been sent as far as the Central African Republic, Liberia, and Equatorial Guinea, sometimes without even knowing where they were being taken. The same administration that is escalating pressure on Cuba is also leaving Cuban migrants stranded thousands of miles from both their homeland and the communities they built in the U.S.