Trump Team Said to Seek New Cuban Leader as Pressure Campaign Intensifies

The Trump administration is looking for a new Cuban leader as it escalates pressure on Havana, the New York Times reported on August 7.

Citing US officials, the newspaper said the administration has been searching for current and former Cuban officials who could smoothly take over the government while cooperating with Washington.

The model under discussion is Delcy Rodriguez, who became Venezuela’s interim president in January after the arrest of former President Nicolas Maduro. The Times reported that Trump officials have pushed intelligence agencies to identify a comparable figure. It described the idea as closer to a remaking of the regime than outright regime change.

US intelligence agencies have reached a different conclusion. People briefed on the matter said Cuba resembles Iran more than Venezuela. If the current leadership steps aside, they said, there is only a small pool of pragmatic officials ready to take power. Those in line behind them also appear to hold views similar to Iranian hard-liners.

Within the Cuban government, Vice Prime Minister Oscar Perez-Oliva Fraga is gaining support in the succession debate. He is a grandnephew of the late revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. He has recently appeared frequently in state media and at government events, and has unusually given interviews to foreign news outlets.

The report said Washington could be more open to Raul G. Rodriguez Castro, a grandson of Cuba’s de facto top leader Raul Castro, and Interior Minister Lazaro Alberto Alvarez Casas. CIA Director John Ratcliffe reportedly met both men during a visit to Cuba in May.

The Times also reported that the CIA has quietly set up a Cuba task force, which it said signals a more organized pressure campaign by the Trump administration against the Cuban government.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US is waging an unprecedented economic war on Cuba and left open the possibility of additional sanctions, saying the country has nowhere to run.

In an interview with Axios, Rubio said Cuba is trying to buy time with “fake reforms” to evade sanctions.

“Every time they create a new mechanism to escape sanctions, we simply shut it down,” Rubio said. “For the next two and a half years, this pressure is not going away.”

Shin Yong-hyun, Hankyung.com reporter yonghyun@hankyung.com