Gates: Cuba's Collapse Poses Biggest Risk to US with Potential Migration Crisis

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the biggest risk Cuba poses to the United States is its potential collapse and a resulting migration crisis.

"The biggest risk is that we end up with another Mariel evacuation from Cuba that has tens of thousands of Cubans heading to the United States out of desperation," Gates said Friday in an interview with "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."

The Mariel Boatlift saw about 125,000 Cubans seek refuge in the US in 1980 after Cuba's failing economy sparked dissent. The mass exodus strained social services in Florida and prompted state and federal governments to declare a state of emergency.

Gates said Cuba's role in providing security for ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has impacted US national security. But he questioned whether Cuba poses an imminent threat to the US.

"Other than in these, if you will, peripheral ways, I think the main threat is, frankly, is collapse," he said.

President Trump has threatened military action against Cuba for months. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called for economic and political reforms.

The Trump administration has imposed an oil blockade to squeeze Cuba's economy. Experts say the measures have pushed the nation to its most dire state since the Soviet Union's collapse, which heavily subsidized Cuba. Cuba's energy minister said this week that the country has run out of fuel, largely because of the blockade.