Trump weighs imposing 'total oil blockade' on Cuba in bid to topple government

Following the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the White House reportedly believes the Cuban government is 'ready to fall'

News Desk

JAN 23, 2026

https://thecradle.co/articles/trump-weighs-imposing-total-oil-blockade-on-cuba-in-bid-to-topple-government

The White House has discussed imposing a total blockade on oil imports to Cuba as part of an effort to promote regime change in the Caribbean nation, Politico reported on 23 January, citing three people familiar with the matter.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is behind the proposal, according to the sources.

US President Donald Trump stated last week that the US would end Venezuela's shipments of oil to Cuba, which account for 60 percent of the island nation's oil consumption.

Havana has sought to replace subsidized Venezuelan oil with purchases from Mexico at higher market rates to stave off an economic crisis. Cuba sold some of the oil provided by Caracas for the foreign currency needed to import food and machine parts amid harsh US sanctions.

Trump abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on 3 January, called himself “acting president,” and is personally managing the revenues of shipments of Venezuelan oil recently sold by Washington.

"A total blockade of oil imports into Cuba could then spark a humanitarian crisis" and, ultimately, regime change, Politico wrote.

"Energy is the chokehold to kill the regime," said one person familiar with the plan.

Toppling the country's communist government, which took power following the Cuban revolution in 1959, which toppled US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista, is "100 percent a 2026 event" in the view of White House officials, the person added.

Secretary of State Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants who left the island years before the revolution, has long pushed for regime change in Havana.

After President Trump reacted to a social media post joking about Rubio becoming the president of Cuba, Rubio replied, "Sounds good to me."

Some Republican lawmakers have also pushed for an oil blockade on Cuba in recent weeks.

"There should be not a dime, no petroleum. Nothing should ever get to Cuba," said Senator Rick Scott of Florida last week.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that White House officials are actively seeking regime change in Cuba, believing that its economy is "close to collapse and that the government has never been this fragile after losing a vital benefactor in Maduro."

US officials are reportedly looking for Cuban officials who "want to cut a deal," the paper added.