Will US Blockade Topple Havana’s 67-Year Communist Rule

9th February 2026 at 3:17 PM

2 minutes read

Havana : Cuba is teetering on the brink of a full-blown financial and humanitarian crisis. Food shortages are mounting. There’s severe electricity rationing. Hours-long blackouts have disrupted the daily lives in the Communist-ruled island nation of 11 million. Oil and food supplies can’t reach the Communist country due to an American blockade. This is the toughest test for the Communist regime that Fidel Castro brought to power in 1959.

The regime in Venezuela had been severing the oil lifeline that Cuba depended on to keep its economy running. Determined to make America great again, the Americas, especially Cuba, are on Trump’s radar. Through the US’s intense pressure and sweeping sanctions, combined with the loss of Venezuelan oil supplies, Havana’s economy has visibly been squeezed to the edge. Cuba on Monday warned airlines that it was suspending jet fuel supplies for a month, reported news agency AFP.

This blockade may be the reason the regime, which has long been a recipient of American ire, now faces a genuine threat of collapse, feel many. The United Nations said on Wednesday that the humanitarian situation in Cuba is “extremely concerning”. The situation could worsen, or even collapse, if oil needs aren’t met, it said. Cuba’s economy is reeling under a tightening energy squeeze that has strained everyday lives on the island. British newspaper, The Financial Times, on January 29 reported that oil stocks in Cuba were then estimated to last as little as 15 to 20 days.

The government has imposed rationing and emergency measures to preserve essential services. Healthcare, food production and critical infrastructure are prioritised for the scarce fuel that remains. Other non-essential things like culture, education and other sectors have been scaled back. Amid the mounting pressure, Mexico sent two ships carrying 814 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Cuba. Mexico is also weighing how to continue supplying oil to Havana without triggering tariff retaliation threatened by Donald Trump, reported news agency AFP.

Much of Communist Cuba’s chronic economic struggle stems from long-standing capitalist US sanctions that date back to the embargo first imposed in the 1960s. But recent developments have accelerated the crisis. For decades, Venezuela supplied most of Cuba’s imported oil under favourable terms. That flow has now effectively stopped after the US captured Maduro in January. The regime in Caracas fell and Maduro’s deputy is now working with the Trump administration. This has left Havana without its largest economic patron.