Exclusive | Trump urged to impose zero tolerance and total pressure on Cuba as expert warns regime will try to dupe US
Cuban-American lawmakers are urging the Trump administration to impose maximum pressure on the island’s totalitarian regime, arguing the Communist government is weaker than it has ever been.“It’s a failed nation, and they’re not getting any money from Venezuela, and they’re not getting any money from anyone,” President Trump, who reportedly is eyeing regime change in Cuba before the end of this year, told reporters Feb.2, days after he threatened tariffs on countries that sell or provide oil to the island.Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged Thursday during a rare news conference that the regime wouldn’t be able to guarantee electricity or even “basic activities” amid fuel shortages. While Díaz-Canel expressed openness to talking with the Trump administration, he said discussions over Cuba’s sovereignty would not be on the table and that the nation was preparing a “defense plan” in response to pressure from Washington. “We aren’t in a state of war,” Díaz-Canel said, “but we are preparing ourselves in case we have to move to a state of war.”Meanwhile, Trump has indicated that negotiations are already taking place with top Cuban officials, saying last week that “I think we’re pretty close” to an agreement.
Alejandro Castro Espin, the son of former Cuban President Raul Castro, reportedly is among the top officials that has engaged in those dealings, which could provide the regime with an off-ramp to remain in power.However, Trump has said the deal he’s looking to strike would allow Cuba to “be free again” after 67 years of repressive rule.Rep.
Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.), who was forced to flee Cuba as a young child shortly after Fidel Castro’s takeover in 1959, told The Post in a recent interview that “I do believe” regime change in Havana will happen soon.“I’ve been here 65 years, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the regime as weak as it is right now,” he said.“I think what the administration sh...