Cuba’s crumbling power grid has plunged the island into a deepening energy and economic crisis. On Monday, a nationwide blackout thrust nearly 11 million Cubans into darkness, compounding years of hardship. After 67 years of communist rule, many Cubans are now desperate for change.
Pro-democracy protests are erupting in Cuba as the world watches on social media. In the streets, people are chanting “long live Trump” and setting fire to a Communist Party headquarters.
Cubans have reached their limit, tired of empty store shelves and homes left in the dark.
“It will be two or three days without electricity, and what little we have to eat spoils. Nobody says anything, and nobody has answers for anything,” explained frustrated resident Tomás David Velázquez.
Cuba has depended on Venezuelan oil just to keep the lights on. The U.S. stopped those shipments in January, causing the power grid to fall apart. Now, blackouts are sweeping across the island.
Recently, at the Shield of the Americas summit in Doral, Florida, President Trump spoke about remarkable changes in Venezuela and added that he hopes to see the same happen in Cuba.
“They’re very much at the end of the line. They have no money, they have no oil, they have a bad philosophy, they have a bad regime that’s been bad for a long time,” the president insisted.
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In the Oval Office on Monday, Trump shared about what might be ahead for Cuba. “Whether I free it, take it. I think I can do anything I want with it, you want to know the truth.”
Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel admits he’s talking with the U.S., trying to find a way forward between the two countries.
While the oil embargo has pushed him to the table, Diaz-Canel still sides with America’s enemies. When the Ayatollah Khamenei died, he quickly visited the Iranian embassy in Havana, signing the guest book and offering condolences to his Islamist ally.
Even though Cuba’s Marxist government remains hostile to the United States, Cliff May, president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, explained how the Venezuela model could be used in Cuba.
“Nicolas Maduro is in a jail cell in Brooklyn, New York. His number two, Delsey Rodriguez. She is running things. Is she a Marxist? Absolutely,” May explained. “Is she more pliable? I think she is, because Trump has communicated to her: Look, if you’re cooperating with us, that will be very helpful. If not, there probably are other jail cells I can find for you in Brooklyn, New York.”
Unlike Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, it looks like Miguel Diaz-Canel of Cuba won’t be facing a jail cell anytime soon. Still, with political and economic pressures mounting, more protestors are likely to take to the streets. That could be the first step toward “Cuba Libre”—a free Cuba—in the days ahead.
