""Gone is Barack Obama's " Cuban Thaw" and Joe Biden's less-restrictive sanctions. In their places, the Trump administration has apparently adopted a policy of regime change through maximum pressure. 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. 'I don't think we need (to take) any action,' Trump said on Jan. 4.""
""Maduro's predecessor and mentor, Hugo Chávez, was an avowed admirer of Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. Shortly after assuming power in 1999, Chávez's government began supplying oil on favorable terms to Cuba in exchange for doctors and, eventually, the training of Venezuela's security forces. It was no coincidence that 32 of the security officers killed as they defended Maduro from approaching American forces were Cuban.""
""Cuba is going to be something we'll end up talking about," said President Donald Trump just hours after the Jan. 3, 2026, operation to seize the Venezuelan president. Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed Trump's warning: "If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I'd be concerned." As a historian of the United States and Cuba, I believe that Washington's relations with Havana have entered a new phase under the Trump administration.""
President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that Cuba could be destabilized following the Jan. 3, 2026, operation to seize Venezuela's president. The Trump administration has shifted away from the Obama-era "Cuban Thaw" and Biden's less-restrictive sanctions toward a maximum-pressure strategy aimed at regime change. The administration expects Cuba's communist rule to end in 2026 without U.S. military intervention. Maduro's capture removed Cuba's closest ally, weakening Havana's external support. Hugo Chávez supplied oil to Cuba in exchange for doctors and security training, and Venezuela reportedly contributed about US$60 billion to Cuba between 2002 and 2022. Venezuela's subsequent economic collapse reduced that support.
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