WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration's strategy against Cuba is looking a lot like the playbook for Venezuela: An oil blockade, a growing U.S. military presence, federal charges and repeated threats of intervention.
But similar pressure campaigns do not equal similar results, experts say, even if President Donald Trump has often warned that "Cuba is next."
WATCH: Rubio says Trump prefers Cuba diplomatic solution, but says likelihood 'is not high'
"President Trump viewed the Venezuelan intervention as a fantastic success," said Brian Finucane, a senior adviser with the International Crisis Group and a former State Department lawyer. "And he's sought to replicate the Venezuela model elsewhere, including in Iran. But obviously, Cuba, like Iran, is a very different country than Venezuela."
If the U.S. were to depose Cuba's leadership, there is no obvious successor who would work with the Trump administration, Finucane said. That is unlike Venezuela, where the U.S. captured leader Nicolás Maduro in January and his second in command, Delcy Rodríguez, stepped in with U.S. approval and remains in power.
