Cuba's Government Has Collapsed and Cubans Know Who to Blame

The Atlantic published a story today which says the Cuban government has all but collapsed. Officially it still exists, but in most of the country, and even in Havana, there are few signs of its presence.

The Cuban regime has stifled any viable domestic opposition. But the withering of the state—a process that has been under way for decades—has accelerated, and is shocking to see up close. The ration cards that used to guarantee basic foodstuffs for every Cuban had been blank for weeks when I visited in August. Police and soldiers were once ubiquitous throughout the country, but I saw hardly any...

The government still purports—on faded billboards, in party speeches—to meet all of the material and spiritual needs of its citizens, but it is now bankrupt in every sense. Almost no one believes in the system anymore, and many, especially outside Havana, behave as if the government simply does not exist.

The only thing that Cuba's government seems equipped to do at this point is take the blame. Even regular people the author encountered have had enough of communism.

Not long ago, the country bristled with informants working for the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution. But when I asked people about the CDR, some laughed, and few seemed worried about being overheard. One evening on a beach in Baracoa, a man in his 30s asked me what I thought about Communism. He was lying in a hammock talking with four other men, drinking cheap sugarcane rum from a plastic bottle; they had been complaining about the ever higher prices of rice, beans, and other basic foods. I told him I thought Communism was a lousy way to run a country.

He looked squarely at me and said, “I shit on Fidel Castro’s mother.” The other men laughed. He uttered a few more obscenities. Then, suddenly, all of the humor drained from the man’s face. His voice went taut with anger, and tears welled up in his eyes.

“Cuba is frozen in time!” he shouted. “There’s no hope. It’s a sad thing to be born a Cuban. That’s what I think, and I don’t care; they can send me to prison if they want.” The other men had gone silent.

Surprisingly, no one is blaming President Trump, not even when prompted to do so.

During nine days of travel around the island, I did not meet a single person who blamed Donald Trump or the United States for their situation...

“I don’t see any change since January,” a retired engineer named Guillermo Almeida told me. “That oil from Venezuela wasn’t reaching the people anyway.”

In Havana he visited a nursing home full of old men who'd once had roles in Cuba's government. One man, age 65, had been a big supporter of the revolution and even had a tattoo of Che Guevara on his arm. But his opinion of communism had changed.

I asked him what should be done to make things better. Cuba needed to be bombed, he told me. Specifically, Raúl Castro, Fidel’s brother and successor, should be bombed. And Raúl’s daughter Mariela. And the prime minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz.

All that's left now is for something to replace the failed government of Cuba. Last Friday, Secretary of State Rubio encouraged Cubans to partner with the CIA.

To those who seek to create positive change in Cuba - now is the time. The disappointment of failed promises, corruption, and the privileged lives of only a few; seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discrete partnership with the CIA.

— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) October 23, 2026

The CIA responded in Spanish:

“A aquellos que buscan crear un cambio positivo en Cuba – Este es el momento. La decepción de las promesas fallidas, la corrupción, y las vidas privilegiadas de unos pocos – Aprovecha esta oportunidad de crear el cambio que deseas a través de una asociación discreta con la CIA.” https://t.co/KYaksHGFLm

— CIA (@CIA) October 24, 2026

To those seeking to create positive change in Cuba – This is the moment. The disappointment of failed promises, the corruption, and the privileged lives of a few – Seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discreet partnership with the CIA.

For their part, Cuba's "leaders" are still talking tough.

Cuban officials have dismissed the CIA’s outreach to Cubans as a sign of “desperation.”

“Now the U.S. is resorting to public recruitment for the CIA. There must be a great deal of desperation or poverty within the agency’s ranks if it has to hawk its job offers like toothpaste,” Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío said.

Without mentioning the CIA or Rubio, Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel also rejected the latest U.S. effort.

“The U.S. government makes it clear that it has not abandoned its ambitions of domination over Cuba,” he said on X. “It is worth remembering that we Cubans achieved our true independence on January 1, 1959, and we are determined to defend it.”

It sounds good but their ability to control the island has already ended. People are going to take up the CIA on its offer and sooner or later that's going to lead to the end of Castro's revolution.

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