The head of the U.S. Mission in Cuba, Mike Hammer, stated that the current crisis the island is experiencing is different from the Special Period of the 1990s because the regime no longer has the oil support from Venezuela.
The statements were made in an interview with Telemundo, where he explained that after the fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba was able to sustain itself for years thanks to the oil sent by Hugo Chávez and later by Nicolás Maduro, support that no longer exists today.
"Do you remember that after the 90s a certain Hugo Chávez arrived in Venezuela and started giving away that oil for two decades?" Hammer pointed out.
"And now, who?" he added, emphasizing that that source of external relief had vanished.
According to the U.S. official, the Cuban revolution has historically been supported by external subsidies, first from the Soviet Union and later from Venezuela. However, it now faces a different scenario in which it lacks an ally willing to sustain its economy.
Hammer stated that the Cuban economy has been "destroyed" by the regime's own model and asserted that energy pressure will increase following the interruption of Venezuelan oil flow. In his view, the current situation is unsustainable and leads to a process of change.
The diplomat refrained from specifying deadlines or concrete mechanisms but emphasized that the geopolitical context has changed, and unlike during the Special Period, this time the regime does not have an oil lifeline to prolong its stay.
For Hammer, this structural difference marks a turning point in the Cuban crisis and explains why he believes the country is headed toward a political transformation in the short term.
In another part of the interview, Hammer stated that "the Cuban revolution has failed" and described the situation on the island as a profound economic and social deterioration, characterized by an energy collapse, a decline in tourism, and an increase in insecurity.
Furthermore, he assured that the time has come to intensify efforts in the face of the severe crisis that the island is experiencing, stating that “it is time to accelerate things” because the situation is becoming increasingly complicated for the Cuban people due to the communist regime.
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