If the administration has its way, 2026 will be the final year of communist rule in Cuba – and it intends to achieve this without intervention by U.S. armed forces.
Trump may have a point. Maduro’s capture has effectively taken away Cuba’s closest ally.
Either way, there is a potential flaw with the administration’s reasoning: Cuba’s communists have survived crises such as these for more than 60 years. Yet, there is evidence that as Cuba’s economy declines, so too does support for the regime.
Those who stayed are no more satisfied.
As Cubans have turned against their government, they have become more receptive to the U.S.
In the past decade, however, I have heard Cubans – at least those under 50 – express more anger with their government than with the U.S. embargo.
Since Maduro’s capture, I have messaged friends in Cuba to gauge sentiment. All but one of the six Cuban friends I managed to reach told me they were receptive to U.S. intervention in Cuba, provided that it removed the regime making their lives miserable.
One friend said: “If the Yankees showed up today, most of us would probably greet them as liberators.”
Admittedly, my sample size is small. But such reactions, coming from comparatively elite Cubans working in both the private and public sectors, cannot be good news for what remains of the Castro regime.
