“Cuba Is Next?” A Family’s Divided Response to U.S. Pressure on the Island

There is a small wood-burning picture on the wall of my New York City apartment: a simple island tableau I look at every day — a farm in the foreground, a tall palm tree bent over a barbed-wire fence, and mountains fading into the distance. It is the only thing I own from Cuba, the country that raised my grandfather and the place he fled as a teenager in the 1960s after Fidel Castro's revolution.

Cuba has returned to headlines as President Donald Trump has signaled a tougher posture across Latin America. After the reported arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January, public remarks — including the president’s comment at a Miami economic summit on March 27 that “Cuba is next” — and new punitive measures have driven fresh debate over whether the United States should intervene, intensify sanctions, or stand aside.

To understand how these developments land, I called the two Cubans closest to me in June: my grandfather, a political refugee who still carries the memory of exile, and my father, a U.S.-born son of exiles whose distance from the island shaped a different view.

Timeline of Recent U.S. Actions

Administration sanctions on Cuba were expanded on May 1. On May 20, the U.S. Justice Department announced charges against former Cuban President Raúl Castro, alleging his involvement in the 1996 downing of planes flown by exiled Cuban pilots.

Family Voices: Memory, Hope, and Caution

My Grandfather — Pedro Pequeño, born 1943 in Matanzas: His family was comfortably middle class before the revolution; his father ran a shoe store, and his mother kept the home. He went to the United States in 1958 for military school, returned briefly when Castro took power, and then left again in 1962 through Operation Pedro Pan, the program that helped Cuban children relocate.

Now a retired anthropologist and longtime professor, my grandfather has watched Cuba's changes vividly and personally. Parkinson’s disease has diminished his mobility but not his clarity. When I asked whether U.S. intervention is the only route to liberate Cuba, he replied with irony and urgency:

"Do you see another one?"

He has long supported Trump and believes the president may be the only leader willing to act decisively on Cuba’s behalf. "It's not that Trump is good or bad," he told me. "Trump is maybe the only one who would open a road."

My Father — Pedro Pequeño II (Pete): Born and raised in Florida and later a North Carolina resident, my father grew up immersed in Cuban culture but with a more distant relationship to the island. Educated at Rollins College with coursework in Latin American affairs, he describes his views as more cautious and moderate. He values democracy but insists it must emerge organically rather than be imposed from abroad.

Recalling the Elian González episode of 1999–2000 as a painful example of how U.S. intervention can inflame tensions, my father argued: "I think I'd much rather let the people decide than try to push it in that direction." He worries about the United States acting as the sole arbiter of Cuba’s future and prefers policies that promote freedom and democracy without military occupation.

My View

I find myself closer to my father's caution. I oppose U.S. military intervention in Cuba because I believe outside interference often deepens suffering and complicates political solutions. I also see how U.S. policy — particularly long-running sanctions — has harmed ordinary Cubans, exacerbating shortages and depriving families of essentials. To attribute Cuba’s hardships solely to its communist government overlooks decades of U.S. diplomatic and military involvement that have shaped the island’s modern reality.

At the same time, there is a personal ache here: an ancestral pull toward Matanzas, passed down in family stories and stored in a simple wood-burning on my wall. I want Cubans to be free to choose their government without coercion. I want reliable electricity, full kitchens and flourishing lives for my relatives on the island. I want my grandfather to see the Cuba he remembers or imagines before he dies.

But while hope drives that longing, I fear that a U.S.-led intervention could produce more harm than good — another chapter of foreign meddling that leaves ordinary people worse off. The better path, to my mind, is careful diplomacy, humanitarian support, and listening to Cubans themselves as they decide their future.

Follow: USA TODAY columnist Sara Pequeño on Bluesky: @sarapequeno.bsky.social

1492, Christopher Columbus lands on Watling Island, later San Salvador Island and meets the natives, while three of his shipmates erect a cross. Columbus would also claim Cuba for Spain.(Hulton Archive, Getty Images)

Capture of the Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro or Morro Castle by the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Scots, during the Siege of Havana, Cuba, in the Seven Years' War, 1762.(Hulton Archive, Getty Images)

Cuba began importing slaves in 1526 and would abolish slavery in 1886.(Bettmann Archive via Getty Images)

Portraits of Maximo Gomez, Gen. Antonio Maceo, JosŽ Mart’, Salvador Cisneros, and Gen. Calixto Garcia. JosŽ Mart’ was a Cuban writer, poet, and revolutionary who played a key role in the fight for CubaÕs independence from Spain in the 19th century. Born in Havana in 1853, Mart’ became involved in political activism at a young age and spent much of his life in exile due to his outspoken opposition to colonial rule. Through his essays, speeches, and poetry, he promoted ideas of freedom, unity, and Latin American identity. Mart’ was instrumental in organizing the Cuban War of Independence and founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party to support the cause. He died in battle in 1895, becoming a national hero and enduring symbol of Cuban patriotism and resistance.(Library of Congress)

Fidel Castro (2ndL) gives his deposition to Colonel Chabiano, military chief of the Moncada Garrison, Major Jose Izquierdo, Chief of Police, Lieutenant Sama and Lavastida, Head of the Regimental Intelligence Service (SIR) of Santiago de Cuba, at the Vivac in Santiago de Cuba, July 1953, after the attack on the Moncada garrison house by the group led by Fidel Castro, 26 July 1953.(AFP via Getty Images)

This January 1959 photo released by the Cuban historical archives shows guerrilla soldier under the command of Fidel Castro posing on a homemade APC in Cuba's Sierra Maestra. Castro launched his final attack on Havana from Sierra Madre on January 1959, and defeated Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Cubans are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the success of the Revolution.(CUBAN HISTORICAL ARCHIVES/AFP via Getty Images)

Cuban President Fidel Castro, center, arriving in Havana, Cuba, with Che Geuvara, right, and Major Camilo Cienfeugos, top, on 1st Dec. 1,1959.(Keystone, Getty Images)

Cuban President Fidel Castro (L) and Commander Camilo Cienfuegos laugh during a baseball match between the own 'rebels' in Havana, shortly after toppling dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959.(AFP via Getty Images)

Fidel Castro (R) waves to the people in Havana in this file photo from January 8, 1959. Castro and 81 other combatants started a revolutionary war against the U.S.-backed regime of Fulgencio Batista on December 2, 1956 and over the next two years they conducted a guerrilla struggle that won increasing popular support, culminating in the revolution's triumph on January 1, 1959 when Batista finally fled the country. Castro and his troops took Havana on January 8. Cuba celebrates the 45th anniversary of the revolution on January 1, 2004.(Reuters)

Students holding up a banner at a demonstration in Havana, Cuba, circa 1960.(Graf, Getty Images)

A soldier of the Cuban Armed Forces stands next to U.S.-built armaments captured after some 1,500 anti-Castro allies came ashore at Playa Giron beach during the Bay of Pigs invasion on the south coast of Cuba, in this April 1961 file photo. Forty-five years after it defeated a CIA-trained invasion force at the Bay of Pigs, Cuba still sees the U.S. as the biggest threat to its socialist society. 1,500 Cuban exiles, organized and armed by the CIA, came ashore April 1961 in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro's government. The invaders never got beyond the mosquito-infested swamps surrounding the Bay of Pigs, as Castro's fledgling revolutionary government scrambled to defend itself.(PRENSA LATINA, REUTERS)

This April 1961 file photo shows a group of Cuban counter-revolutionaries, members of Assault Brigade 2506, after their capture in the Bay of Pigs, Cuba.(MIGUEL VINAS, PL/AFP via Getty Images)

John Kennedy, American president announcing on television the strategic blockade of Cuba, and his warning to the Soviet Union about missile sanctions during the Cuban missile crisis on Oct. 22, 1962.(Keystone, Getty Images)

A photo of a medium range ballistic missile base in San Cristobal, Cuba, with labels detailing various parts of the base, is shown Oct. 1962. Former Russian and U.S. officials attending a conference commemorating the 40th anniversary of the missile crisis October 2002 in Cuba said that the world was closer to a nuclear conflict during the 1962 standoff between Cuba and the U.S., than governments were aware of.(Getty Images, Getty Images)

Cuban prime minister Fidel Castro making a speech in Jose Marti Revolution Square, Havana, at a military parade and rally on Jan. 12, 1965.(Keystone, Getty Images)

Coastal defense missiles in a military parade during celebrations of the sixth anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, Havana, Cuba on Jan. 12, 1965.(Keystone, Getty Images)

Fidel Castro, Cuban statesman and revolutionary shaking hands with Nikita Khrushchev after signing the Economic Treaty between Cuba and USSR circa 1965.(Keystone, Getty Images)

Soviet freighter enters the port of Havana to unload and load goods. The Soviet Union USSR totally supports Cuba with economic and military aid. Cuba is dependent on Soviet markets in 1972.(John van Hasselt, Corbis via Getty Images)

Fidel Castro and PLO leader Yasser Arafat stand together at the airport in Havana during Arafat's first visit to Cuba on Nov. 14, 1974.(PRENSA LATINA, REUTERS)

This May 1980 photo captures a pivotal moment during the Mariel boatlift, when thousands of Cubans departed from the port of Mariel bound for the United States. The mass migration, which lasted from April to October 1980, saw over 125,000 Cubans leave the island for Miami in a historic exodus. Small boats, crowded and often makeshift, filled the harbor as families sought new opportunities and freedom abroad. The image reflects both the urgency and hope of those fleeing economic hardship and political tensions, as well as the scale of one of the largest migrations in Cuban history.(ARCHIVO, AFP via Getty Images)

A group of Cuban soldiers helping Angolan regular army and Soviet-backed Marxist MPLA regime in Luanda, patrol on Feb. 29, 1988 near Cuito Cuanavale, southern Angola, where they are fighting against anti-Marxist and Western-backed UNITA nationalist movement. Dec. 22,1988, South Africa, Cuba and Angola signed treaties for the phased withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola.(PASCAL GUYOT, AFP via Getty Images)

Cuban leader Fidel Castro is surrounded by reporters late July 15, 1993 as he arrives at the Othon Hotel in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil after attending the official reception for heads of state participating in the third Ibero-American Summit. Castro urged Ibero-American leaders to support a lift of the 30-year U.S.-imposed embargo against Cuba.(AFP via Getty Images)

Hundreds of Cubans watch as a makeshift boat is carried by would-be emigrants through the city to launch into the Straits of Florida towards the US, on the last day of the 1994 Cuban Exodus in Havana, Sept. 13, 1994. Between Aug. 12 and Sept. 13, some 31,000 Cubans were detained at sea by U.S. ships. It was the largest exodus since the 1980 Mariel boatlift that brought 120,000 Cubans to Miami.(REUTERS)

Hundreds of Cuban-Americans flocked to Opa-Locka Airport in northwest Miami on Feb. 24, 1996 for a rally after hearing that two "Brothers to the Rescue" planes were shot down by Cuban fighter jets over international waters near Cuba. "Brothers to the Rescue" is a Miami-based group dominated by Cuban exiles opposed to Castro that trolls the waters between Florida and Cuba looking for small boats of Cuban refugees and also drops political leaflets over Cuba.(RHONA WISE, AFP via Getty Images)

Pope John Paul II riding in the popemobile, passes a sculpture of Cuban revolutionary leader Ernesto Che Guevara as he arrives at the Plaza de la Revolution in Havana to celebrate mass at the end of his historic five-day visit to Cuba on Jan. 25, 1998. The pontiff visited Cuba from 21 to 26 January. It was his 81st International Pastoral visit.(ADALBERTO ROQUE, AFP via Getty Images)

Cuban President Fidel Castro listens to Pope John Paul II as they walk on the tarmac of the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana Jan. 21, 1998, moments after the Pope arrived for a five-day four city tour of Cuba.(MICHEL GANGNE, AFP via Getty Images)

Elian Gonzalez became an international figure in 1999 when, at just five years old, he was found clinging to an inner tube off the coast of Florida after his mother and others died attempting to cross the Florida Straits from Cuba. His survival sparked a highly publicized custody and political dispute between relatives in Miami and his father in Cuba. The case drew intense media attention and highlighted tensions between Cuban exiles and the Cuban government, as well as debates over immigration and family rights. In 2000, after months of legal battles, Elian was returned to his father in Cuba, where he grew up largely out of the public spotlight.(RHONA WISE, AFP via Getty Images)

A Havana street musician plays in the Cuban capital's Malecon as the Express container ship arrives on Dec. 16 2001 with 20 containers of frozen chicken, worth about 300,000 USD, shipped from Gulfport, Mississippi. This is the first shipment of US food sold to Cuba since the US imposed a trade embargo four decades ago, and it is part of a deal aimed at helping the communist nation recover from the ravages of Hurricane Michelle which hit in November. The Express was expected to be followed by the Mexican-flagged Ikan Mazatlan, carrying 24,000 tons of corn, valued at 2.2 million USD, from New Orleans, Mississippi. Further shipments were expected in the coming days as part of Cuba's purchase of emergency food supplies including 50,000 tons of wheat, 12,500 tons of rice, 12,000 tons of soybeans and 5,000 tons of soy oil.(ADALBERTO ROQUE, AFP via Getty Images)

Cuban President Fidel Castro calls for time as former US president Jimmy Carter prepares to throw the first pitch in a baseball game on May 14, 2002 in Havana. Carter made a bold push for democratic opening in communist Cuba, urging Castro to let the UN human rights chief visit and calling attention to an unprecedented dissident bid for political change.(ADALBERTO ROQUE, AFP via Getty Images)

In this photo released Jan. 18, 2002 by the Department of Defense, Al-Qaeda and Taliban detainees in orange jumpsuits sit in a holding area under the surveillance of US military police at Camp X-Ray at Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, during in-processing to the temporary detention facility Jan. 11, 2002. The detainees, captured in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom, are given a basic physical exam by a doctor, to include a chest x-ray blood samples drawn to assess their health.(DOD / US NAVY/AFP via Getty Images)

Cuban President Fidel Castro talks with his Russian colleague Vladimir Putin during the official welcoming ceremony on Dec. 14, 2000 in Havana, Cuba for a four-day visit. It is the first time that a Russian leader has visited Cuba since Mikhail Gorbachev came to the island in 1989 before the collapse of the Soviet Union.(ADALBERTO ROQUE, AFP via Getty Images)

Cuban President Fidel Castro (L front) talks with his brother Raul Castro (R front), the chief of Cuban Armed Forces, during a special session of the National Assembly on June 24, 2002, in Havana. The two-day session is expected to conclude by making socialism an inalienable part of the Cuban constitution. President Castro called for the session after more than 99 percent of Cubans last week supported the idea in a "referendum" which voters were not given the option of rejecting.(NIURKA BARROSO, AFP via Getty Images)

A Cuban boy plays baseball in the center of Old Havana in this picture taken April 22, 2004. Baseball is the national sport in Cuba and is followed with a passion. Despite the lack of available equipment, children make do with anything they can find to play the game, on streets, lots or fields.(Juan Carlos Ulate, REUTERS)

A senior Cuban citizen watches a video released by the state-owned Cuban television on Aug. 14, 2006 showing Cuban leader Fidel Castro recovering from surgery in his hospital bed in Havana with his Venezuelan Counterpart Hugo Chavez at his bedside. Chavez flew to Cuba specially to meet him for his 80th anniversary, celebrated Sunday. It was Castro's first appearance on video since the July 31 announcement saying the Cuban leader Castro had undergone intestinal surgery and that he had ceded power to his younger brother, Raul, the defense minister.(ADALBERTO ROQUE, AFP via Getty Images)

People make their way over the wreckage left on the streets by Hurricane Ike in Baracoa, on Sept. 8, 2008. Cuba raised its hurricane alert level to maximum for the capital Havana as deadly hurricane Ike raged westward across the island towards the city of 2.2 million people, Cuban state television announced.(AFP via Getty Images)

The Russian Admiral Chabanenko destroyer arrives at Havana's harbor, on Dec. 19, 2008. A group of Russian warships arrived in Cuba on Friday, the first such visit to the Soviet-era ally since the end of the Cold War, an AFP journalist reported. Part of a tour of Latin America, the five-day visit close to US waters is seen as a response to Washington's own moves in areas Russia deems within its sphere of influence, including in the Black Sea.(ADALBERTO ROQUE, AFP via Getty Images)

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez (L) and his Cuban counterpart Fidel Castro joke after joining their medallions, given by medical graduates, at Havana's Karl Marx theatre, in this Aug. 20, 2005 file photo. Ailing Cuban leader Castro said on February 19, 2008 that he will not return to lead the country as president or commander-in-chief, retiring as head of state 49 years after he seized power in an armed revolution.(Claudia Daut, REUTERS)

Cuba's acting President Raul Castro (L) and Cuba's Vice President and veteran guerrilla commander Juan Almeida attend a session of the National Assembly in Havana in this Dec. 29, 2007 file photo. Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro said on Feb. 19, 2008 that he will not return to lead the country, retiring as head of state 49 years after he seized power in an armed revolution. Half a century later, the old guard of the Cuban revolution is still hanging in there and likely to remain influential in the political hierarchy for some time.(Claudia Daut, REUTERS)

Cuban Ladies in White leader Laura Pollan (2nd-L) and other members shout slogans in front of the church of Santa Rita church on 5th Avenue, on May 2, 2010, in Havana. The Cuban government and Cardinal Jaime Ortega arrived to a solution to authorize the peaceful march of the Ladies in White, an opposition organization demanding the release of their imprisoned relatives.(ADALBERTO ROQUE, AFP via Getty Images)

A Cuban man carries a bag of food past a wall reading "Long live Raul" on July 12, 2011 in Havana. Farmers and urban private workers were the ones that earned the most in 2010 in Cuba, as their corresponding sectors grow due to Cuban President Raul Castro's reforms, informed Tuesday an official source.(AFP via Getty Images)

President Barack Obama speaks to the nation about normalizing diplomatic relations the Cuba in the Cabinet Room of the White House on December 17, 2014 in Washington, DC. Obama announced plans to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba, over 50 years after they were severed in January 1961. In a prisoner exchange, U.S. contractor Alan Gross was freed after being held in Cuba since 2009 and sent to Cuba three Cuban spies who had imprisoned in the U.S. since 2001.(Pool photo by Doug Mills via Getty Images)

A man walks along an empty street, that used to be packed with Cubans queueing to apply for a visa at the US Embassy (back), in Havana on Oct. 26, 2017. In response to a series of mysterious health attacks to their diplomats, US has withdrawn more than half the personnel from its embassy in Cuba and ordered the expulsion of 15 Cuban diplomats in the United States. US relations with Havana were only fully restored in 2015 -- after a half-century Cold War breakdown -- and have deteriorated since President Donald Trump took office in January. Many Cubans whose income depended on the US' embassy influx of public to get their visas have been affected.(AFP via Getty Images)

A bicitaxi rides looking for clients along a street of Havana, on March 28, 2018. Cuba's entrepreneurs have flourished since 2011 President Raul Castro's economic reforms and are now hoping improvements will come ahead amid Castro's successor. "Cuentapropistas" and their employees represent 12% --some 580,000-- of the country's work force.(YAMIL LAGE, AFP via Getty Images)

Cuban President Raul Castro (L) waves next to First Vice-President Miguel Diaz-Canel (C) during a National Assembly session that will select Cuba's Council of State ahead of the naming of a new president, in Havana on April 18, 2018. Cuban President Raul Castro steps down Thursday, passing the baton to a new generation in a transition that brings to a close the Castro brothers' six-decade grip on power. The 86-year-old has been in power since 2006, when he took over after illness sidelined his brother Fidel, who seized power in the 1959 revolution.(AFP via Getty Images)

Cubans bid farewell to the funeral procession carrying the remains of the 32 Cuban soldiers who died during the US incursion to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, at the Boyeros Avenue in Havana on Jan. 15, 2026. The capture by US forces of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro on January 3, 2026, and the killing in the operation of 32 Cubans assigned to protect him represent a major blow for the island's revered intelligence services, experts say.(Pool photo by Ernesto Mastrascusa, AFP via Getty Images)

Fishermen return from fishing on a makeshift raft in Havana during a national blackout on March 22, 2026. Cuban authorities scrambled on March 22 to restore power to the island after the second nationwide blackout in less than a week, as the grid struggles due to an aging infrastructure and a US oil blockade.(YAMIL LAGE, AFP via Getty Images)

People walk on a street during a blackout in Havana on May 13, 2026. Cuba blamed the United States for the "particularly tense" situation in its power grid on May 13, 2026, which has been plagued by prolonged blackouts, while Washington once again offered $100 million in aid to the island.(YAMIL LAGE, AFP via Getty Images)

A man walks through a flooded street in a neighborhood affected by Hurricane Melissa in Santiago de Cuba on Oct. 29, 2025. A powerful Hurricane Melissa made landfall in eastern Cuba on Wednesday, causing damage and flooding to homes and streets in Santiago de Cuba province, an AFP team on the ground reported.(YAMIL LAGE, AFP via Getty Images)

An old car drives along Havana's Malecon at dawn on Jan. 26, 2026,(YAMIL LAGE, AFP via Getty Images)

People march along Havana's waterfront to mark International Workers' Day at the Anti-Imperialist Platform in front of the US Embassy in Havana on May 1, 2026.(ADALBERTO ROQUE, AFP via Getty Images)