Cuba is going to be a much nicer place once this dictatorship is gone, it sucks that the Cuban people will / are having to go through these sacrifices in order for their dictatorship to come to an end.. I'm sure part of our plan is to put huge strains on their leaders until they work a deal or we just go in, if we go in their current government is done, I'm sure their people want and need help to get this crisis over. We are all sitting here wishing our government would just end their dictatorship but we haven't done anything to end it for years..

Trump is on deck, I wish he would just get moving so those people don't have to suffer any longer

It'll happen. Their pals in Iran falling won't do them any favors either.

This is a fantastic article that explains, among other things, why the capture of Maduro and the $20 billion swap line we provided to Argentina were so important.

In short, Cuba has been waging a war against the U.S. since Castro took over. Cuba provides training and sanctuary… https://t.co/bcwVWpE9Cr pic.twitter.com/OI6Sv52UWe

— Matt Forney (@mattforney) February 13, 2026

It's a long article, and notes the election this fall in Brazil coming up as well, another 'color revolution' censorship-CIA operation (under peepaw) that needs to be undone.

Quote:

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Cuba declared two days of mourning for the 32 agents who died defending the tyrant in Caracas. The gerontocracy in Havana has no Castro to rally around, no Soviet patron to call, no Chvez to write checks, and now no Maduro to keep the oil flowing. What follows could be the largest political transformation in the Western Hemisphere since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

And then there is Brazil.

In October, Latin America's largest country goes to the polls. Jair Bolsonaro sits in a prison cell in Braslia, serving a 27-year sentence for allegedly plotting a coup after his 2022 defeat. He is 70 years old and suffers from complications of the 2018 stabbing that nearly killed him on the campaign trailhernias, chronic hiccups, recurring surgeries. When he fell from his prison bed and hit his head, Justice Alexandre de Moraesthe same judge who convicted him, the same judge who censored social media accounts reporting election irregularities, the same judge who rules on every petition his lawyers filedenied him permission to go to the hospital for brain scans. He is forbidden from running. He is forbidden from leaving. He watches from his cell as his eldest son, Senator Flvio Bolsonaro, carries the family's banner into the campaign against Lula.

The stakes could not be higher. If Flvio wins, Brazil flipsand with it, the balance of power in South America. Lula would join the ranks of defeated pink-tide leaders, and the largest economy in Latin America would align with Milei, Bukele, and Washington. The Foro's crown jewel would be lost. If Lula holds on, the Bolivarian remnant retains its most important allythough with Maduro gone and Cuba on the brink, it is hard to see what "Bolivarian" would even mean anymore.

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Resorts closed, no flights today, and garbage collection in Havana has collapsed.

Cuba Shutters Beach Resorts As Fuel Crisis Spreads Economy-Wide https://t.co/FxDsI5cqRr

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 7, 2026

Quote:

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Havana Faces Collapse in Garbage Collection.

Fuel Shortages Reduce Truck Fleet to Less Than Half; Accumulated Waste on Streets Exposes Population to Health Risks.

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Havana enfrenta colapso na coleta de lixo.
Escassez de combustível reduz frota de caminhões a menos da metade; resíduos acumulados nas ruas expõem população a riscos sanitários.https://t.co/ZwvM2PtLzu

— Instituto Monitor da Democracia (@imdemocracia) February 17, 2026

The American flag shirt - i would expect that guy to be in jail soon after the photo was taken, no?

Just left Key Largo. Had a driver who had dual citizenship with Cuba and US (didn't know that was possible). Spoke great English and had been in Miami 25 years, but still had family in Cuba. He can travel back and forth, and sends money and supplies to his family. He said Cuba is in bad shape since the Venezuela event. Trash everywhere, no transportation due to lack of fuel. He said the army squashes all dissent, because they have always been taken care of. He is hopeful that once the army experiences hardship, that revolution may take place. He hates the suffering that the people are currently having to endure, but thinks it will be necessary for change.

Jnsag said:

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Just left Key Largo. Had a driver who had dual citizenship with Cuba and US (didn't know that was possible). Spoke great English and had been in Miami 25 years, but still had family in Cuba. He can travel back and forth, and sends money and supplies to his family. He said Cuba is in bad shape since the Venezuela event. Trash everywhere, no transportation due to lack of fuel. He said the army squashes all dissent, because they have always been taken care of. He is hopeful that once the army experiences hardship, that revolution may take place. He hates the suffering that the people are currently having to endure, but thinks it will be necessary for change.

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My USMC grandfather worked secretly to train the Cuban Bay of Pigs force.

Lost many good friends. He liked JFK but his refusal to provide the needed air support really angered my grandfather and thus began his switch to the Republican party.

aggiehawg said:

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Quote:

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Understand the frustration but Mex has 95 million people mostly in the central part of the country. The north is hilly desert with little infra structure with the exceptions of Monterrey and Chihuahua. If those two went street to street thousands of civies would die and you'd have a public relations nightmare.

Urban fight are ugly and everyone has a phone snapping a zillion pics and vids. Unless Mex surrendered quickly no way this works. And never mind the political risk.

Far better and more effective ways to deal with Mexico.

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One reason why I said go Clear and Present Danger on them. Cartels are fierce rivals and very paranoid. Cartel leaders start getting wacked, do it in a way that looks like a rival cartel. Let them start to take each other out. Mop up by taking second in commands thereafter.

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This is what the CIA has tried to do a billion times over and currently bats 0.00 on success.

Nahh - take them out, that's fine. But make no mistake about who did it. Wash, rinse, repeat until the structure has nothing left. There is no need to hide in this game.

nortex97 said:

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It'll happen. Their pals in Iran falling won't do them any favors either.

This is a fantastic article that explains, among other things, why the capture of Maduro and the $20 billion swap line we provided to Argentina were so important.

In short, Cuba has been waging a war against the U.S. since Castro took over. Cuba provides training and sanctuary… https://t.co/bcwVWpE9Cr pic.twitter.com/OI6Sv52UWe

— Matt Forney (@mattforney) February 13, 2026

It's a long article, and notes the election this fall in Brazil coming up as well, another 'color revolution' censorship-CIA operation (under peepaw) that needs to be undone.

Quote:

---

Cuba declared two days of mourning for the 32 agents who died defending the tyrant in Caracas. The gerontocracy in Havana has no Castro to rally around, no Soviet patron to call, no Chvez to write checks, and now no Maduro to keep the oil flowing. What follows could be the largest political transformation in the Western Hemisphere since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

And then there is Brazil.

In October, Latin America's largest country goes to the polls. Jair Bolsonaro sits in a prison cell in Braslia, serving a 27-year sentence for allegedly plotting a coup after his 2022 defeat. He is 70 years old and suffers from complications of the 2018 stabbing that nearly killed him on the campaign trailhernias, chronic hiccups, recurring surgeries. When he fell from his prison bed and hit his head, Justice Alexandre de Moraesthe same judge who convicted him, the same judge who censored social media accounts reporting election irregularities, the same judge who rules on every petition his lawyers filedenied him permission to go to the hospital for brain scans. He is forbidden from running. He is forbidden from leaving. He watches from his cell as his eldest son, Senator Flvio Bolsonaro, carries the family's banner into the campaign against Lula.

The stakes could not be higher. If Flvio wins, Brazil flipsand with it, the balance of power in South America. Lula would join the ranks of defeated pink-tide leaders, and the largest economy in Latin America would align with Milei, Bukele, and Washington. The Foro's crown jewel would be lost. If Lula holds on, the Bolivarian remnant retains its most important allythough with Maduro gone and Cuba on the brink, it is hard to see what "Bolivarian" would even mean anymore.

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Worth the read. Thanks for sharing!

I hope the Cuban gov falls soon, as someone stated, the military needs to fall in order for the government to fall, unfortunate for the people but if they can just hang on it will happen, especially if there is not enough money in Cuba to run the country. feel for all those people, we may need to start supplying food from/out of our base at Guantanamo, just help with food and not their economy in general

Ag In Ok said:

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The American flag shirt - i would expect that guy to be in jail soon after the photo was taken, no?

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No, not really…unless he starts speaking out and causing issues. You can't walk into a store and buy clothing, so people wear whatever they can find.

We spent our first three days in Havana without our luggage. It was a rough three days because there simply wasn't anywhere to buy clothing…other than random people selling used clothes from their front porches.

nortex97 said:

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Resorts closed, no flights today, and garbage collection in Havana has collapsed.

Cuba Shutters Beach Resorts As Fuel Crisis Spreads Economy-Wide https://t.co/FxDsI5cqRr

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 7, 2026

Quote:

---

Havana Faces Collapse in Garbage Collection.

Fuel Shortages Reduce Truck Fleet to Less Than Half; Accumulated Waste on Streets Exposes Population to Health Risks.

---

Havana enfrenta colapso na coleta de lixo.
Escassez de combustível reduz frota de caminhões a menos da metade; resíduos acumulados nas ruas expõem população a riscos sanitários.https://t.co/ZwvM2PtLzu

— Instituto Monitor da Democracia (@imdemocracia) February 17, 2026

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Garbage collection has been an issue for a couple of years. Even in the nicest neighborhoods in Havana, you would find random streets people had started using to pile up their trash b/c the trash trucks were not running.

I checked in with my Cuban friends in Havana yesterday. This is what she said:

"We are ok, but there are big issues with the fuel. We are lucky and have electricity a few hours a day. Others have none. We are saving fuel if we can and keep working, that's important! Busses are no longer working. Thank God we still have enough work because there are not many groups coming. We keep working and saving money and waiting for the documents and trying to do better."

Context...

She is in Havana, which is a city of 2 million people.

Regarding fuel...when we were there in December 2023, people sat in line all day for fuel. I asked how they knew what stations actually had fuel, and they said it was all by word-of-mouth and who you know. That is how everything is done in Cuba. Everything.

She and her husband are involved in the tourist industry, which is really the only way to make money. So when she says there aren't many groups coming, she's referring to tourists. More context: We took a tour of the Colon Cemetery in Havana, and our tour guide spoke four languages: Spanish, English, French, and Russian. He used to be a professor at the University of Havana, but gave cemetery tours instead because it was the only way to survive.

Her reference to "waiting for documents" is about their application to emigrate to Spain. Spain has special programs that permit Cubans to emigrate if they can prove they are descendants of Spaniards. The backlog of applications is years long. It is further exacerbated by the fact that records in Cuba are still paper-based.

Another contact in Varadero (the major beach destination for Canadians and Europeans) said that out of the 70 resorts in Varadero, only four are operating at this point.

Canadian airlines are sending empty planes to bring Canadians home.

Bonus pic of Cubans who were rescued by a cruise ship. Having seen first-hand what life is like in Cuba, it still humbles me when I realize how desperate these people must be to risk escaping via a makeshift raft in shark-infested waters. That's a level of desperation I don't think we can even comprehend in the U.S.