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The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has intensified his military and diplomatic pressure on Venezuela, which British analysts describe as a strategy that goes beyond the removal of Nicolás Maduro: the real target would be the Cuban regime that supports the Venezuelan dictator.
According to an analysis by journalist David Blair from the British newspaper The Telegraph, the Trump administration is reportedly concentrating military power in the Caribbean “to force a regime change in Havana”, similar to old Cold War operations.
“The ultimate goal may not be Caracas, but Havana”, affirmed Blair, comparing the current offensive to the historical Operation Mongoose, led in the 1960s by the United States in an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro.
The White House believes that the Maduro government remains in power thanks to the support from Cuba, particularly due to the military and intelligence advisors sent by Havana to Caracas.
Sources close to the Department of State, led by Marco Rubio, reported to the British media that the current approach aims to “break the Caracas-Havana axis,” weakening the finances and political influence of Raúl Castro and the Cuban military apparatus, GAESA, which controls a large part of the island's economy.
Meanwhile, tensions are rising in the region. International media reports U.S. naval maneuvers near the Venezuelan shores, which could be the largest show of force in the Caribbean in over a decade.
Although the official discourse from Washington focuses on defending Venezuelan democracy, international observers agree that the ultimate goal would be to hasten the collapse of the Cuban regime, which Trump considered "the root of instability in Latin America."
"If Maduro falls, the next will be Díaz-Canel,” a high-ranking U.S. official recently stated under anonymity.
The Cuban government, for its part, has remained silent, while the people continue to suffer from blackouts, shortages, and repression under a system that increasingly relies on Venezuelan oil and internal repression to maintain power.
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