Image Credentials: Image Title: ‘BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE’: Trump Ultimatum Puts Cuba in Crosshairs After Maduro Fall Source: (sora.openai) Date: January 2026. Attribution: This image was created using AI-generated imagery (sora.openai) and does not depict a real-world scene.
By Open Chronicle News Desk Staff with Agencies
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sunday, January 11, 2026 — President Donald Trump issued a chilling warning to the Cuban government today, declaring that the collapse of the Maduro regime in Venezuela has effectively cut the island’s economic lifeline. In a series of aggressive Truth Social posts, the President demanded that Havana strike a “deal” with Washington or face total isolation as the U.S. enforces a strict energy blockade.
“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO!” Trump posted on Sunday morning. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.”
The ultimatum follows the January 3 “Operation Southern Spear,” in which U.S. special forces captured Nicolás Maduro in Caracas. Shipping data analyzed by The Open Chronicle confirms that no Venezuelan oil cargoes have departed for Cuban ports since the raid.
#Trump just warned Cuba to “make a deal before it’s too late” threatening to cut off all Venezuelan oil and money as US pressure mounts after the Venezuela operation This isn’t negotiation it’s coercion under threat turning diplomacy into ultimatums and power plays in the Americ pic.twitter.com/AudKIjMaSI
— Utpal Tiwari ( B-ve) (@tripathi_utpal) January 11, 2026
Historically, Venezuela has been Cuba’s largest benefactor, providing approximately 26,500 barrels of oil per day—roughly half of the island’s energy needs, often in exchange for “security services” and medical personnel. Trump explicitly referenced this arrangement, claiming that “most of those Cubans [security personnel] are DEAD from last week’s USA attack” and that Venezuela “doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage.”
In Havana, the rhetoric remains one of socialist resistance despite the looming threat of a total grid collapse. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel responded on X, formerly Twitter, rejecting the U.S. pressure.
“Cuba is a free, independent, and sovereign nation. No one dictates what we do,” Díaz-Canel wrote, adding that the country is “ready to defend the Homeland to the last drop of blood.”
However, reports from the island suggest a far more desperate reality. With oil inventories estimated at just 360,000 barrels, energy analysts warn that Cuba could face 20-hour daily blackouts by the end of the month. While Havana has reportedly reached out to Mexico and Russia for emergency fuel, neither has yet committed to the scale of subsidies previously provided by Caracas.
The escalation comes as the U.S. Treasury begins coordinating a $2 billion oil deal with Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, to restart exports to the American Gulf Coast. The deal signals a rapid pivot in regional energy politics, placing Cuba in a strategic vacuum.
“The President is making it clear that the ‘Troika of Tyranny’ is being dismantled brick by brick,” said a senior administration official. “The Cuban government has two choices: negotiate a transition or watch its economy slide into the dark.”