Cuba is Collapsing
Cuba has run out of fuel and the US is openly maneuvering to topple the regime, bad news for the Castro government and potentially catastrophic for ordinary Cubans.
- Cuba officially ran out of fuel reserves on May 13, after months of brutal rationing left people with 3-4 hours of electricity a day and hospitals running ventilators by hand.
- Oil from Venezuela stopped when the US captured Maduro in January, and Mexico backed off shipments under US pressure.
- The CIA director flew into Havana to push a deal: $100 million in aid and sanctions relief if the regime accepts a structural overhaul, with Raul Castro's grandson Ralito as Washington's preferred insider.
- The US Justice Department just indicted 94-year-old Raul Castro for the 1996 shootdown of civilian planes, and the White House posted his face on a "neutralized" chart next to Maduro.
- Protests broke out across 12 municipalities, the biggest unrest since 2021, and the regime is calling up militias and reportedly stockpiling 300 Russian and Iranian drones.
Outlook: A negotiated handover through the Castro family is the most likely path, since a sudden collapse would send a migrant wave to Florida that Washington wants to avoid.