Donovan calls to impose 'total systemic friction' on cartel networks; read as warning to Havana

Addressing defense officials from A3C partner nations at the Panama forum, Gen. Francis Donovan said 'we need to attack these networks, we have to apply total systemic friction against them,' asking whether the coalition was 'willing to take the fight to the enemy.' Donovan did not name Cuba, but Cuban-diaspora and regional outlets read the remarks — combined with Trump-era rhetoric and the January 2026 Venezuela precedent — as an implicit warning to Havana over alleged links between Cuban officials and drug trafficking.