Trump administration weighs naval blockade to halt

The Trump administration is contemplating a whole blockade on oil imports to Cuba to carry about regime change in the communist Caribbean nation.

The transfer, which is being pushed by Cuba hawks like State Secretary Marco Rubio, is one of a number of choices at the moment being weighed by Trump officers to current to the president, three people acquainted with the discussions told Politico on Thursday. The nameless sources said there’s a heavy debate among administration officers about whether or not the transfer is warranted after Trump already halted all oil imports from Venezuela to Cuba, which is its main crude provider.

Cuba’s already-suffering financial system has taken a large hit as a outcome of the Trump administration’s arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and seizure of its oil belongings.

Last week, Cuban President Miguel Díaz‑Canel said he could be open to discussing a deal with the U.S. after President Donald Trump urged Havana to negotiate “BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.”

Some have raised issues that a whole blockade might set off a humanitarian disaster in Cuba that could be controversial among some Trump administration figures.

However, the nameless sources told Politico that sure figures are eager on deposing Latin American leaders seen as adversaries, including Cuba’s communist regime, which has been in energy since the Cuban revolution in 1959.

“Energy is the chokehold to kill the regime,” a source told Politico, including that regime change in Cuba is “one hundred pc a 2026 event” for the Trump administration.

While the sources did not directly name any officials, the fight is particularly personal for Rubio, the son of Cuban refugees, who has long expressed hope to liberate Cuba from communism.

“On Cuba’s Independence Day I would like to categorical my unwavering help and solidarity for the Cuban people, “Rubio wrote on May 20, 2025. ” I commend all those who have stood up against over six many years of brutal repression, censorship, and human rights violations at the fingers of the illegitimate Cuban regime.”

He added, “Their tireless advocacy for a free, democratic, and affluent Cuba stays a beacon of hope and resistance for the world. Today we honor their sacrifice, braveness, and resilience.”

The source explained that the move would be justified by the 1994 LIBERTAD Act, better known as the Helms-Burton Act, which codified the U.S. embargo on Cuban trade and financial transactions into law.

The White House and the Cuban embassy in Washington have not acknowledged the report at press time.

Cuba heavily relies on imports to obtain oil, as about 60% of its oil is imported, according to the International Energy Agency. In light of changes in Venezuela, the country has turned to Mexico for help. However, Cuba has had to pay Mexico for the shipments, which have not been able to fully address the worsening shortage.

However, the Cuban leader fiercely rejected claims by U.S. officials that its communist regime is responsible for its economic turmoil.

“Those who blame the Revolution for the extreme financial shortages we endure ought to maintain their tongues out of disgrace. Because they comprehend it and acknowledge it: they’re the fruit of the draconian measures of excessive strangulation that the U.S. has been making use of to us for six many years and now threatens to surpass,” he wrote on X.

“Cuba is a free, impartial, and sovereign nation. No one dictates what we do. Cuba doesn’t aggress; it’s aggressed upon by the United States for 66 years, and it doesn’t threaten; it prepares, prepared to defend the Homeland to the last drop of blood.”