Front Burner Cuba is pushed to the brink
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Feb 13, 2026 
Jon Lee Anderson, longtime New Yorker correspondent with deep Cuba and Latin America reporting, breaks down the crisis on the island. He traces the oil cutoff and its ripple effects. He describes rolling blackouts, strained hospitals, and tourism collapse. He explains how tanker tracking, U.S. pressure, and regional politics shape Cuba’s precarious future.
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Oil Cutoff Sparks Acute Cuban Crisis
- The U.S. cutoff of Venezuelan oil has pushed Cuba into a month-long energy and cash crisis.
- Cuba relied on subsidized Venezuelan oil for two decades and sold some shipments for hard currency.
Reporter’s Memory Of The Special Period
- Jon Lee Anderson recalls living through Cuba's 1990s "Special Period" with severe shortages and uprisings.
- He witnessed the 1994 Maleconazo and thousands fleeing by raft to the U.S.
Oil-for-Services Kept Cuba Afloat
- Venezuela provided oil in exchange for Cuban doctors and experts, creating a symbiotic cash-and-service relationship.
- As Venezuela faltered, those subsidies shrank and Cuba subsidized itself by reselling oil shipments.