Cuba Faces Uncertain Future After U.S. Topples Venezuelan Leader Maduro
HAVANA (AP) — Cuban officials lowered flags in mourning before dawn Monday 32 security guards They say he was killed Weekend strike in the USA Those living in Venezuela, the island nation’s closest ally, are wondering what happened. Capture of President Nicolás Maduro It means they will come.
The two governments are so close that Cuban soldiers and security guards frequently Venezuelan president Protections and Venezuela’s oil have kept the economically struggling island limping along for years. Cuban officials said 32 people were killed in the surprise attack over the weekend but did not provide further details.
The Trump administration has publicly warned that overthrowing Maduro would help achieve another decades-old goal: dealing a blow to the Cuban government. Separating Cuba from Venezuela could have disastrous consequences for its leaders, who on Saturday called on the international community to stand against “state terrorism.”
On Saturday, Trump said the struggling Cuban economy would worsen with Maduro’s ouster.
“It’s falling,” Trump said of Cuba. “Down for the count.”
Many observers say Cuba, an island of about 10 million people, wields significant influence over Venezuela, an oil-rich country with a population three times as large. At the same time, Cubans have long been tormented by rolling power outages and shortages of basic food. And in the wake of the attack, they woke up to the possibility of an even worse future, once unimaginable.
“I can’t speak. I have no words,” said Berta Luz Sierra Molina, 75, as she cried and put her hand to her face.
Regina Mendez, 63, said “we have to stay strong” even though she is too old to join the Cuban army.
“Give me a rifle and I’ll go fight,” Mendez said.
Jorge Piñón, a Cuban energy expert at the University of Texas at Austin Energy Institute, said Maduro’s government has shipped an average of 35,000 barrels of oil per day over the past three months, representing about a quarter of total demand.
“The critical question we cannot get an answer to is: Will the United States allow Venezuela to continue providing oil to Cuba?” he said.
Piñón noted that Mexico once supplied 22,000 barrels of oil a day to Cuba, but that figure later dropped to 7,000 barrels after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Mexico City in August.
“I don’t think Mexico will step in right now,” Piñón said. “The US government would go crazy.”
“The power outages are severe and Venezuela is still sending some oil,” said Ricardo Torres, a Cuban economist at the American University in Washington.
“Now imagine a future where you lose this in the short term,” he said. “This is a disaster.”
Piñón noted that Cuba does not have the money to buy oil from the international market.
“The only ally they have left there in terms of oil is Russia,” he said, noting that Russia sends approximately 2 million barrels of oil to Cuba annually.
“Russia has the capacity to fill the gap. Do they have the political determination or political will to do this? I don’t know,” he said.
Torres also questioned whether Russia would lend a helping hand.
“Meddling in Cuba could jeopardize your negotiations with the United States on Ukraine. Why would you do that? Ukraine is much more important,” he said.
Torres said Cuba should open its doors to the private sector and market and reduce the public sector; These moves could encourage China to step in and help Cuba.
“Are there alternatives? I don’t think there are,” he said.
Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Associated Press reporters Milexsy Durán in Havana and Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires contributed.
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