Trump says Cuba near failure as Mexico halts oil shipments

U.S. President Trump said the Cuban government is nearing collapse, citing the loss of Venezuelan oil and financial support.

“Cuba will be falling pretty soon,” Trump said speaking to reportes on Tuesday. “Cuba is really a nation that is very close to failing.”

Trump added that Havana had depended on money and oil from Venezuela and “they are not getting that anymore.”

The comments follow reporting last week by The Wall Street Journal, which said the Trump administration is seeking Cuban government insiders willing to strike a deal to help remove the country’s Communist leadership by the end of the year.

The Journal reported that U.S. officials believe Cuba’s economy is close to collapse and that the government has been weakened since losing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as a key regional ally.

Cuba has long relied on subsidized oil from Venezuela and Mexico to keep its power grid running, but that support narrowed on Tuesday when Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed that the country has stopped shipping oil to the island.

Sheinbaum declined to comment directly on a report by Bloomberg, which said Pemex halted planned oil transfers to Cuba amid pressure from the United States.