"Cuban experts urged people to be “prepared” for a possible scenario of aggression against the island, following comments by US President Donald Trump that Washington ‘will end up talking about Cuba’, made after a military operation in Venezuela that led to the capture of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife. During a press conference in Mar-a-Lago, in which he reported on the operation against Maduro, the Republican leader described Cuba as a ‘failed nation’ and maintained that the system in place on the island ‘is not good,’ without detailing possible actions. In an exclusive interview from Havana, Ileana Dopico Mateo, PhD in Education Sciences and professor at the University of Havana, said that Cuba also faces a threat following Saturday’s strikes on Venezuela. She added that she hopes the US will “come to their senses.” "When [the US government] comes, they will want to wipe out everyone: those of us who are in favour or those who are against (...) So what we have left is to continue. To be prepared, as we have always been, prepared in all areas. From the ideological point of view and from the military point of view, and to be clear that the maximum priority is to defend our homeland," she said. The academic said that "unity" is key in the current scenario and warned that an invasion "can kill anyone." "Bullets and bombs have no name and have no direction. (...) We are not going to gain anything; on the contrary, they will come to trample us, they will come to take extreme measures," Mateo warned. Independent researcher Armando Plasencia said conclusions must be drawn from previous US action in other countries. “It happened in Panama, it happened in Grenada, it happened in Libya in another context... I think it is a challenge to the entire continent and that, in essence... it is the natural resources of Latin America [that the United States wants]," the researcher noted. Regarding Cuba specifically, Plasencia said preparedness is key. “This is a very personal opinion, that all those doctrines established in the 'war of the whole people' must be dusted off. How to decentralise the government, how to prepare ourselves, because to the extent that we are prepared, to that same extent we will prevent any event," said Plasencia. The comments come after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio highlighted the relationship between Cuba and Venezuela, noting, “If I lived in Havana and were in the government, I would be worried at least a little.” It comes amid the United States’ ongoing redefinition of its security strategy in Latin America and the Caribbean."