The United States government is actively committed to promoting regime change in Cuba by the end of 2026, according to a report published on Tuesday night (21) by Wall Street Journal. The strategy gained strength after the overthrow of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, seen by Washington as a model and, at the same time, a warning for Havana.
According to the newspaper, President Donald Trump’s administration began looking for interlocutors within the Cuban government itself willing to negotiate a solution that would put an end to the communist regime in the Caribbean country, which has been in power for almost seven decades.
According to sources heard by WSJinternal assessments by the American government indicate that the Cuban economy is close to collapse and more fragile than ever, especially after the fall of Maduro, considered one of Havana’s main external supporters. Although there is no detailed plan to replace the regime, American officials see the operation that led to Maduro’s capture as a possible “road map” for Cuba.
Take advantage of the stock market rise!
On January 11, Trump posted on social media that he suggested an agreement by Havana “before it is too late” and stated that there would be no more sending of “oil or money” to the country. In meetings with Cuban exiles and civic organizations in Miami and Washington, US officials have been trying to identify someone within the current government willing to negotiate, according to an official cited by the newspaper.
The report recalls that the January 3 operation in Caracas had the help of a member of Maduro’s inner circle and resulted in the death of 32 Cuban soldiers and intelligence agents who were part of his security detail. Although Washington has not made public threats to use military force against Cuba, members of the government say, privately, that the action in Venezuela acts as an implicit threat to Havana.
O WSJ further reports that US intelligence reports describe a critical economic scenario on the island, marked by chronic shortages of food and medicine, as well as frequent blackouts. Since the late 1990s, Cuba has depended heavily on subsidized oil from Venezuela. According to American authorities, the intention is to strangle this supply, which could lead to the country running out of oil in a matter of weeks, paralyzing the economy.
Continues after advertising
Another front of pressure involves Cuban medical missions abroad, the country’s main source of foreign exchange. The Trump administration has imposed visa restrictions on Cuban and foreign officials accused of facilitating the program.
Test of the new doctrine
For Trump and close allies, many with political ties to Florida, the fall of the Cuban regime would be the litmus test of their national security strategy to reshape the hemisphere, the newspaper says. Internally, the president cites the cooperation of Venezuelan Delcy Rodríguez after Maduro’s fall as proof that Washington can impose conditions.
In a statement, the State Department stated that it is in the interests of American national security that Cuba is governed by a democratic regime and stops hosting military and intelligence services from US adversaries.
In Havana, the government rejects any possibility of negotiating under pressure. President Miguel Díaz-Canel recently stated that there will be no “surrender or capitulation.” Meanwhile, military exercises and signs of popular discontent coexist in a capital marked by blackouts, fuel shortages and silent protests, described by the newspaper as the sound of pans banging in the dark of Cuban nights.
