The US military announced Wednesday that the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group has arrived in the Caribbean amid heightened tensions between the United States and Cuba.

“The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68), the embarked Carrier Air Wing 17 (CVW-17), USS Gridley (DDG 101) and USNS Patuxent (T-AO 201) are the epitome of readiness and presence, unmatched reach and lethality, and strategic advantage,” the US Southern Command said in a statement posted on the US social media platform X.

It added that the USS Nimitz “has proven its combat prowess across the globe, ensuring stability and defending democracy from the Taiwan Strait to the Arabian Gulf.”

The deployment comes the same day the Trump administration announced criminal charges against former Cuban President Raul Castro over his alleged role in the 1996 shootdown of two civilian aircraft belonging to the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue which killed four people, including three Americans.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that Cuba is “next” following the military operation against Iran and has claimed that the communist-run island nation would fall “soon.”

Cuban President Miguel Daaz-Canel said earlier this week that Cuba has the “absolute and legitimate right" to defend itself against any military assault, warning such an action would cause “a bloodbath with incalculable consequences.” (AA)