US Ramps Up Cuba Regime-Change Push After Maduro Abduction

By Staff, Agencies

After its controversial military action in Venezuela, the Trump administration is reportedly expanding its regime-change agenda to Cuba by the end of 2026, targeting government insiders willing to cooperate, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Citing unnamed US officials, the WSJ report says that Washington believes Cuba’s economy is on the verge of collapse, due to long-standing shortages, power outages, and the loss of subsidized oil from Venezuela.

The kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, which resulted in the deaths of dozens of Cuban citizens, has reportedly emboldened US policymakers to pursue a similar operation in Havana.

“I strongly suggest they make a deal. BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” Trump threatened in a January 11 post, announcing a halt to oil and financial support for Cuba.

Although no official military action has been announced, the US sees the Venezuela operation as a model, and Trump’s inner circle reportedly views the overthrow of Cuba’s government as a top priority.

US officials are tightening sanctions on Cuba—targeting oil and medical missions—to trigger economic collapse, with intelligence warning of fuel shortages, reflecting longstanding US hostility toward Cuban sovereignty.

Trump allies are using AI propaganda to depict a “post-Communist” Cuba filled with US symbols, Miami migrants, and images of Trump and Rubio in Havana.

Analysts, however, warn that the Cuban state is more centralized and less penetrable than Venezuela. Cuba’s leadership has firmly rejected Washington’s approach.

“There is no surrender or capitulation possible nor any kind of understanding based on coercion or intimidation,” Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel declared, vowing resistance following the deaths of Cuban personnel in Caracas.