Among the suffering Cuban people, fears are palpable that their nation may be next on the list of those Donald Trump has targeted for regime change, following the Feb. 28 joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran. Loud-mouthed Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) Proclaimed on a Fox News show March 1, “Cuba is next. They are going to fall. This communist dictatorship in Cuba, their days are numbered,” [the Huffington Post quoted him as ssaying.]( https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/lindsey-graham-names-next-country-095719627.html)
Graham’s comments come amidst Trump’s frequent contradictory remarks about his plans for Cuba, ranging from “make a deal before it’s too late,” to “maybe we’ll have a friendly takeover.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told Cuba that if they were to open up their economy with free market reforms, this might offer a way out of the current genocidal economic asphyxiation resulting from Donald Trump’s decision to impose high tariffs on any country that sells oil to Cuba.
With this devastation as a backdrop, at the end of February, speaking before the Council of Ministers, President Miguel Diaz-Canel announced the 2026 Plan of Government which includes sweeping changes in the country’s economic and social model. The program’s content is clearly not based on spur-of-the-moment decisions, but appears quite dramatic in its implications and response to significant problems in the functioning of the Cuban economy which has been under siege for 67 years by the U.S. The goal, he said, is to achieve the macroeconomic stabilization of the country, increase its revenue in foreign currency and increase national production with an emphasis on food production.
As a hypothesis, it would appear that this program has been under production within the last year—it’s name was even changed—but produced with foreign demands in mind.
“We have to immediately focus on implementing the most urgent and necessary transformations to our economic and social model,” said Diaz-Canel, [the daily Granma reported him saying.]( https://www.granma.cu/cuba/2026-03-01/convoca-presidente-cubano-a-implementar-transformaciones-necesarias-al-modelo-economico-y-social-01-03-) The President also stressed that transformations related to the autonomy of the business sector and the municipalities are crucial, as is national food production. Also urgent is a change in the energy matrix, not just focused on renewable sources but also on national crude oil. Diaz-Canel emphasized the desirability of foreign direct investment and the importance of taking advantage of the economic relations between the public and private sectors especially at the municipal level and promoting doing business with Cubans living in the United States.
