Overview
- President Trump publicly backed a viral post suggesting Secretary of State Marco Rubio could lead Cuba, responding, “That sounds good to me.”
- Trump separately posted that there will be “no more oil or money for Cuba,” signaling punitive steps as Washington shifts focus after the Venezuela operation.
- Havana struck a defiant tone, with President Miguel Díaz-Canel pledging the island would defend itself “to the last drop of blood.”
- The cutoff of Venezuelan crude compounds Cuba’s economic crisis, extending blackouts and limiting fuel imports as debt and scarce credit constrain purchases.
- Scholars, including William Leogrande, argue Cuba’s institutions and security forces make a swift, externally driven regime change unlikely, unlike Eastern Europe in 1989.