Natalie Kitroeff

I can imagine that she's looking at this situation where she's really between a rock and a hard place.

I mean, Trump's not giving her or any country much of a choice here.

Right.

The Castro's are no longer in power.

It's been a long time since the revolution.

I mean, things have changed on the island, too.

You're right.

Yeah.

So I think that brings us to the present day where this policy has now really put Cuba in this extremely difficult situation where conditions on the ground are just very dire.

No oil is coming in.

And this island seems close to an all out humanitarian crisis.

My question is, how in the minds of Marco Rubio and President Trump do you get from a humanitarian crisis to regime change?

What's the calculation there?

What would that look like, Michael, a soft landing?

I am wondering what the best case scenario the Trump administration imagines here.

Like, are they looking to find a partner within the Cuban regime that they could work with to kind of negotiate change?

Someone like Delcy Rodriguez in Venezuela, the former vice president, to Maduro, who's now leading the country and working with the U.S.?

Is that the best case here?

Well, and to be fair, it's true that this regime is absolutely expert in buying time.

That is what they have done over and over again.