Ever since the daring capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January, the White House has signaled its designs on Cuba. U.S. President Donald Trump has said he believes he’ll have the “honor of taking” the island country, and U.S. officials have floated the idea of finding a “Cuban Delcy”—a reference to Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former deputy who cut a deal with Washington to become his successor.
But Cuba is not Venezuela. And the fallout from the conflict in Iran may change how Trump is thinking about getting mired in another foreign-policy problem. What are the likely scenarios for what happens next? On the latest episode of FP Live, I spoke with Michael Bustamante, the author of Cuban Memory Wars and chair in Cuban and Cuban American studies at the University of Miami. Readers can watch the full interview on the video box atop this page or download the free FP Live podcast. What follows here is a lightly edited excerpt of the conversation.
Ravi Agrawal: We’ve had months of rhetoric out of the White House about “taking Cuba.” There are also strict new sanctions on Havana and an effective oil blockade. What is your understanding of the broader White House strategy on Cuba?
Michael Bustamante: It’s a great question to take at the top and a tough one. Some pieces on the very abstract level of what this White House is trying to pursue are clear. It gets a little muddier once you get beneath the surface.
