Trump Administration Seeks 1 Cuban Successor as Spy Agencies Warn Hard-Liners Dominate
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 7
Trump Administration Seeks 1 Cuban Successor as Spy Agencies Warn Hard-Liners Dominate
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 7
Summary
U.S. officials said the Trump administration has been searching for a current or former Cuban official who could take over in Havana as Washington intensifies pressure on the island’s leadership.
Spy agencies were tasked with finding a pragmatic figure akin to Delcy Rodríguez in Venezuela, but intelligence assessments concluded Cuba offers few such candidates positioned to assume power.
Those assessments say Cuba looks less like Venezuela and more like Iran politically, with officials waiting in the wings tied to harder-line factions rather than leaders likely to work closely with Washington.
The effort reflects what officials described as regime alteration rather than outright regime change, centered on replacing or sidelining Cuba’s current leadership while preserving state continuity.
Could Washington's hunt for a pragmatic Cuban successor inadvertently trigger a hardline takeover in Havana?
Why might Cuba's tightly controlled regime resemble Iran more than Venezuela when facing an externally engineered succession?
Cuba Under Siege: Inside the 2026 U.S. Economic and Intelligence Offensive and Its Global Fallout
Overview
In 2026, the U.S. launched a coordinated offensive against Cuba, starting with the capture of Venezuela’s president, which cut off Cuba’s main oil supply. This triggered a chain reaction: U.S. executive orders and pressure on Mexico led to a total fuel blockade, depleting Cuba’s reserves and causing nationwide blackouts. The resulting collapse of water delivery, food production, and healthcare doubled infant mortality and forced mass emigration. Meanwhile, the U.S. ramped up intelligence operations and indicted former Cuban leader Raúl Castro, aiming to fracture the Cuban elite and force political change without direct military invasion.