Anonymous US officials are cited as saying the options include “an Army-led air assault involving thousands of US soldiers to be carried out by the 101st Airborne Division, the only unit trained for such a task.”

The sources emphasized that such briefings and discussions are not “confirmation” that US President Donald Trump or the Department of War have made a final decision to carry out an armed invasion of the sovereign island.

“Any operation against Cuba would confront the Pentagon with a significant problem because much of the US military’s attention and some of its most valuable offensive capabilities are already committed elsewhere,” the report added.

At the start of the year, Trump imposed a brutal blockade on Cuba, crippling the island’s hospitals and all basic services.

The blockade has resulted in a spike in infant mortality, a severe food crisis, and mass power outages amid the continued collapse of Cuba’s National Electric System.

Cuba’s power grid collapsed on Tuesday for the third time in under ten days, affecting approximately ten million people.

This “occurred amid the maximum economic and energy-sector pressure being imposed on our country by the US government,” Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said on 15 July.

“The genocidal oil blockade has not been enough for them. They continue to … sanction Cuban and foreign [energy] companies … US authorities, particularly their Secretary of State, do not care about the suffering of thousands of families, the hundreds of hospitals left without electricity, or the loss of food caused by the lack of refrigeration,” he added.

Large-scale protests erupted across the country earlier this month due to frustration over the impact of the blockade.

Failing commercial and domestic refrigeration systems are preventing Cubans from purchasing groceries and other goods in bulk.

The healthcare system has also been heavily impacted by Washington’s siege.

“Children are dying because doctors lack access to essential medical supplies and medicines. This is unacceptable,” UN human rights chief Volker Turk said last month.

On 7 July, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly for a debate on the “necessity of putting an end to the economic, commercial, and financial Blockade imposed by the US against Cuba”.

US State Secretary Marco Rubio has claimed Washington prefers “diplomacy” with Cuba rather than military action. Trump, on the other hand, has openly and publicly threatened the island nation with an invasion.

Rubio has advocated for complete regime change in Cuba and Venezuela, with reports from the New York Times indicating that the state secretary and national security adviser is serving as a “viceroy” for the latter country.