POLITICO.COM

February 12, 2025

Mauricio Claver-Carone on the administration’s hemisphere-wide shakeup.

Do you have a message to the Cuban people, to the Cuban government?

The Cuban government is probably at its weakest point that we’ve ever seen. People always say that, but this time it really is. And the desire for change of the Cuban people is overwhelming. Even its leadership structure knows that change is inevitable.

Regime change? What kind of change?

Democratic change. The Cuban model is obviously dead. You don’t hear any country in the region saying, “I want to become like Cuba.”

It’s an interesting time in Cuba where transition is not only inevitable, but frankly is probably imminent.

Now what that transition looks like is a question, right? For me, it’s not even a question of when, It’s really a question of who and how.

What role can the Trump administration play in that change?

Oh, I think we can be very creative. Very creative.

What does that mean?

I think we can be very creative, and I’ll leave it at that.

Any hints?

I think it’s rife with opportunities and creativity.

In Trump One, we spent a lot of time having to deal with global geopolitical actors in the Western Hemisphere. We were very focused on China and its presence in the region and countering that.

That has declined significantly, definitely from a sovereign lending perspective, from a [foreign direct investment] perspective as well. The Chinese, Russians or the Iranians are quite diminished because of their own global circumstances and mistakes. That creates an opportunity for the United States to once again restore its leadership role.

That has declined significantly, definitely from a sovereign lending perspective, from a [foreign direct investment] perspective as well. The Chinese, Russians or the Iranians are quite diminished because of their own global circumstances and mistakes. That creates an opportunity for the United States to once again restore its leadership role.

Read the whole interview here: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/02/12/mauricio-claver-carone-interview-trump-latin-america-00203718