US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Cuba was a "failed nation", urging Cuban authorities to reach an agreement with the United States. At the same time, Washington is tightening the noose to reduce foreign currency inflows to the island, generated mainly by sending medical missions abroad, tourism and tobacco.

Published on: 02/17/2026 - 09:35

Growing US pressure on Cuba. Donald Trump urged Havana to conclude an agreement with Washington on Monday February 16, while rejecting the idea of ​​an operation aimed at overthrowing the regime. “Cuba is a failed nation right now,” the US president told reporters aboard Air Force One.

However, when asked about the possibility that the United States could overthrow the Cuban government, as it did in Venezuela in early January, Donald Trump replied: "I don't think that is necessary."

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Cuba faces major fuel shortages and power outages as the US president steps up the US embargo on the country. Among other measures, Washington is tightening the noose to reduce foreign currency inflows into the island state.

Pressure on Cuban doctors abroad

Sending medical missions abroad constitutes the main source of foreign currency for Cuba, amounting to seven billion dollars in 2025, according to official figures.

According to Havana, 24,000 health professionals were deployed in 56 countries in 2025, more than half (13,000) in Venezuela. In this country, the situation of Cuban doctors remains generally unchanged for the moment, despite the capture of Nicolas Maduro by the United States. However, it could evolve quickly.

At the same time, the policy of pressure followed by Washington from 2025 is starting to have its effects in other countries in the region.

Read also American asphyxia and repressive regime, Cubans facing multiple crises

Guatemala just ended a 27-year agreement during which thousands of Cuban doctors worked in isolated areas of its territory, while the island state of Antigua and Barbuda broke its historic alliance with Havana in December. Guyana intends to directly pay Cuban professionals, outside of the agreements signed between the two States.

An energy blockade that seriously threatens tourism

The energy blockade imposed by Washington on Cuba, where no tanker has entered since January 9, threatens to deal a fatal blow to tourism, the second source of foreign currency.

The sector, which employs around 300,000 people, has already been weakened in recent years by the pandemic and American sanctions (-70% in revenue between 2019 and 2025, according to estimates based on official figures).

Read alsoThe news in drawing: Donald Trump increases energy pressure on Cuba

After Havana announced a shortage of kerosene, Canadian and Russian airlines serving the island and the Latin American company LATAM announced that they would suspend their flights once they had completed the repatriation of their passengers still there.

At least five countries have asked their nationals to avoid traveling to Cuba.

The lack of oil also affects cigars

Besides nickel production, cigars are another source of foreign exchange for this country. In 2024, their sales reached $827 million.

Read also Rationing, closed hotels, four-day week... Cuba facing energy asphyxiation

“Agriculture is not spared from the current oil situation, which is very serious,” Hector Luis Prieto, a producer in the Vuelta Abajo region (west), the Mecca of Cuban tobacco, told AFP. Practically without fuel, it encounters difficulties in the middle of the harvest, both for the collection of tobacco leaves and for the irrigation of the crops which are still in the fields.

The cancellation of the prestigious cigar festival scheduled for the end of February in Havana is another hard blow. The event brings the government several million euros each year thanks to a prestigious auction.

In 2025, the amount of this sale was more than 16 million euros and 17 and 11 million euros in the two previous years. The funds collected are officially intended for the health sector, which has already had to reduce its non-essential activities.

Targeted dollar-purveyor “mules”

The official channels of entry of money sent to their families by Cubans living abroad – the “remesas” – have almost disappeared since the suspension of these sendings by the American company Western Union in 2020, despite a brief resumption between 2023 and 2025.

Since then, Cubans have received dollars thanks to "mules" who travel by plane from Miami from where they also bring goods and medicine.

These flights have not been suspended but the Republican representative of Florida, Carlos Gimenez, declared in early February that he had asked American airlines serving Cuba to "cancel all flights" towards the communist island and its "brutal regime".

With AFP

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