--- description: “Cuba needs to be rid of its oppressors once and for all, as quickly as possible,” argues Carlos Eire. title: Waiting for Spring in Havana image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7a00352f5526003/69e272f0b704368d24f86512/cuba-time-essay-eire-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- IDEASTime ideas * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Cuba](/tag/cuba/) ## Cuba Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Waiting for Spring in Havana Apr 23, 2026 12:00 PM CUT  Members of the Alfonso family gather inside their home in the rural community of Cuajaní, where three generations share the same space. In Cuba’s countryside, families like the Alfonsos remain deeply tied to the land, yet face increasing challenges as the country’s economic crisis extends beyond urban centers. Members of the Alfonso family gather inside their home in the rural community of Cuajaní, where three generations share the same space. In Cuba’s countryside, families like the Alfonsos remain deeply tied to the land, yet face increasing challenges as the country’s economic crisis extends beyond urban centers.Moises Saman—Magnum Photos for TIME by [Carlos Eire](/author/carlos-eire/) ## Carlos Eire Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Carlos Eire is the author of “Waiting for Snow in Havana.” Apr 23, 2026 12:00 PM CUT The hour has come. [It is time](https://time.com/7344661/cuba-trump-venezuela-oil-economy-crisis/ "undefined") for Cuba’s [dictatorship](https://time.com/3666177/fidel-castro-cuba-history/ "undefined") to meet its end. No ifs, ands, or buts. No deals of any kind. Get out, dinosaurs. Get lost. Disappear. Fossilize in the ash heap of history. Cuba is currently facing a [humanitarian crisis](https://time.com/article/2026/03/17/cuba-economic-energy-crisis-trump-us-explainer/ "undefined") that worsens with every passing day. And those solely responsible for this disaster are the wizened despots who rule it. The sooner they disappear, the quicker the recovery can begin. This is because Cuba’s crisis is nothing new. All that has changed with the Trump Administration’s [policies](https://time.com/7373215/cuba-us-blockade-oil-venezuela/ "undefined") is its magnitude. Cuba has been in crisis ever since the Castro dynasty seized power and turned the country into one of the most unproductive and repressive places on earth. The failures of this dictatorship are so monumental that no list, no matter how long, can fully itemize them.  Television screens display archival footage of Fidel Castro delivering speeches at the Fidel Castro Ruz Center in Havana, where moments from his decades-long leadership are preserved and presented as part of the country’s historical narrative. Moises Saman—Magnum Photos for TIME Ever since it was absorbed into the Soviet empire in 1960, Cuba has been a parasitic state, unable to survive without a beneficent patron. First, it was the Soviets, until their empire collapsed in 1991, and Cuba was cut loose from the life support they provided. Then, a few years later, Hugo Chavez came to the rescue and Venezuela became Cuba’s new benefactor, supplying it with free oil and various subsidies. But now that the Venezuelan spigot has been turned off by President Trump, the Cuban dictatorship is running on fumes, and the vast majority of Cubans are coping with[ extreme shortages](https://en.cibercuba.com/noticias/2026-03-27-u1-e199370-s27061-nid324213-sobrevivir-cuba-apagones-hambre-familias-separan "undefined") of fuel, electricity, food, water, medications, and other basic necessities. You might have read somewhere or heard someone say that the U.S. is responsible for this collapse. That is a lie. A big one, easy to disprove. Let us focus on one undeniable fact that sums up the dictatorship’s disastrous legacy. Cuba has one of the most fertile soils on the planet and is surrounded by seas teeming with fish, but ever since the so-called Revolution abolished private enterprise and private property, food has been in very short supply. And now, without Venezuelan oil and subsidies, Cuba can’t pay for the imported food that is crucial for the survival of its people.  Families gather to receive free meals inside the community center of the Quisicuaba Project in Central Havana, many arriving early and waiting in crowded rooms for their turn. As Cuba faces a deepening economic crisis marked by food shortages, inflation, and the erosion of public services, spaces like Quisicuaba have become essential lifelines—where faith, community, and necessity converge to fill the gaps left by a system under growing strain. Moises Saman—Magnum Photos for TIME Who is responsible for such a senseless catastrophe? Up until the country became communist, Cuba’s rich earth not only fed the nation, but made it so prosperous that during the first half of the 20th century, Cuba attracted [over a million](https://migracionesinternacionales.colef.mx/index.php/migracionesinternacionales/article/view/2993/2462 "undefined") fortune-seeking immigrants from Europe and other countries and exported much of its produce, including millions of tons of sugar. But after 1959, sugar production [shrank steadily](https://www.ascecubadatabase.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/v29-asce%5F2019%5F30perezlopez.pdf "undefined"), making it impossible for Cuba to export the sweet stuff, or even to meet its own domestic needs. Consequently, for the past three decades, most of the sugar consumed on the island has been[ imported from other nations](https://oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-product/raw-sugar/reporter/cub "undefined"), including the United States. The same is true of all other agricultural products. In the past decade, Cuba has had to import a whopping [70% to 80% of the food](https://cubacenter.org/uncategorized/2024/06/18/cubabrief-the-main-reason-behind-cubas-economic-debacle/ "undefined") consumed by its people. In 2025 alone, it imported [236,539 tons of chicken](https://www.fas.usda.gov/regions/cuba#:~:text=As%20fall%20approaches%2C%20September%20celebrates%20the%20most%2Dconsumed,the%20 "undefined") from the U.S. and spent nearly [130 million dollars](https://oec.world/es/profile/bilateral-product/processed-fish/reporter/cub "undefined") on seafood from other nations. Why? Because Cuba’s communist dictatorship assumed absolute control of food production, obstinately clinging to absurdly inefficient economic policies that yielded ever-shrinking amounts of comestibles to consume or export. And as agricultural output steadily dwindled, the country’s leaders spent ever larger sums of money on domestic repression and the stifling of all dissent, all reform, all individual initiative, all innovation. Cuba’s repressive apparatus is immense and expensive to maintain. Ironically, it is also the country’s only efficient enterprise. So, at this pivotal time, when Cuba’s dictatorship seems on the brink of total collapse—due, let me stress again, to its own fault—what, exactly, does Trump intend to do with this moribund monster? How does Cuba factor into the aims of his newly-minted Donroe Doctrine, a nebulous principle, short on details, which seeks to reestablish American predominance in the Western hemisphere? When Trump whisked away Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro to a prison cell in New York, he said that Cuba’s dictatorship was his next target. His threat against the tyrants in Havana pleased millions of us freedom-loving Cubans immensely, but left most of us wondering what he might have up his sleeve. Trump has been consistently vague about his plans for Cuba and about the deals he might be offering to its dictatorship. The day before he launched a massive attack on Iran, he glibly suggested that the United States could pull off a [“friendly takeover”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=-UnxR2bg9xw "undefined") of Cuba. What does Trump mean, really, by using this expression from the business world? In business lingo, a friendly takeover is any merger or acquisition in which the management of one company willingly allows its absorption into another company. Unlike hostile takeovers, which often remove chief executives and revamp the _modus operandi_ of the target company, friendly ones tend to leave key personnel in charge and make few changes in corporate policy.  A small barbershop in Viñales, where American tourism was once a key source of income. Moises Saman—Magnum Photos for TIME In the language of geopolitics, then, a friendly takeover of Cuba could mean that the Castro dynasty and its minions would remain in power and continue running the country much as they have been doing up until now, maybe with some cosmetic changes, like swapping their military uniforms for Armani suits, or building casinos for tourists and Vietnamese-style sweatshops for Cuban laborers. Let us hope not. Let us hope Trump is kidding or speaking metaphorically. Cuba needs to be rid of its oppressors once and for all, as quickly as possible. This is what would instantly end its humanitarian crisis and be best for the Cuban people, the Americas, and the entire planet. Not just for now, but for years to come. On Mar. 6, a week into the war on Iran, while welcoming the Inter Miami soccer team to the White House, Trump[ spoke](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c14m5mj055jo "undefined") about Cuba’s dictatorship “falling soon” and boasted about[ high-level talks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjUfVu6livQ "undefined") going on with Havana. “They want to make a deal. So badly, you have no idea,” he said. Then he made a promise to Jorge Mas Santos, owner of Miami’s soccer team, and chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation: “You’re gonna go back \[to Cuba\],” Trump[ exclaimed](https://www.kare11.com/article/news/nation-world/trump-cuba-update-deal-may-be-im "undefined"). “That’s going to be a great day, right?” More recently, Trump spoke about [“taking” Cuba](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/16/cuba-trump-taking.html "undefined") and bragged, “I think I can do anything I want with it.” On Friday, while touting America’s military victories over Iran, he pledged again, [“Cuba is next.”](https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trump-says-cuba-is-next-speech-touting-us-military-successes-2026-03-27/ "undefined") More bluster. More vagueness. More hints of deals and good outcomes. But if the taking of Cuba and the sealing of Trump’s deals results in anything but a total regime change, followed by a transition that leads to genuine freedom for the Cuban people, it won’t be a great day for Cubans. Not at all. Let us hope those nebulous hints and promises do really conceal the advent of a great day indeed. Good God Almighty, yes, please, let it be a great day and a genuine resurrection. [TIME Ideas](https://www.time.com/ideas) hosts the world's leading voices, providing commentary on events in news, society, and culture. We welcome outside contributions. 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