Washington holds the spigot on Venezuela's oil money now
En el cruce entre la geopolítica y la ingeniería financiera, la administración Trump ha declarado abiertamente que aplica contra Cuba el mismo manual de presión económica que utilizó para desestabilizar al régimen venezolano. Con la caída de Maduro y el consecuente corte del suministro de petróleo subsidiado a La Habana, Washington aprovecha un momento de vulnerabilidad histórica para exigir transformaciones políticas profundas en la isla. Es la vieja lógica del poder imperial revestida de instrumentos del siglo XXI: quien controla el flujo del dinero, controla el destino de las naciones.
- Cuba ha perdido su último gran sostén económico: el petróleo venezolano que durante décadas reemplazó a los subsidios soviéticos y mantuvo al régimen a flote.
- El Departamento del Tesoro de Estados Unidos controla ahora las cuentas por las que circulan los ingresos petroleros venezolanos, convirtiendo ese flujo en un arma de presión directa contra La Habana.
- Marshall Billingslea, ex funcionario de contraterrorismo financiero, describió la estrategia con llamativa naturalidad, como si el control sobre los recursos soberanos de otra nación fuera ya un hecho consumado.
- Washington exige elecciones, reducción del aparato represivo y apertura política en Cuba como condiciones para cualquier alivio de sanciones, replicando el esquema de presión escalonada aplicado en Venezuela.
- Un comentario de Billingslea sobre la posible captura del funcionario venezolano Diosdado Cabello reveló que las ambiciones de la administración van más allá de lo económico, apuntando a la remoción física de individuos específicos del poder.
Marshall Billingslea, ex responsable de financiamiento del contraterrorismo en el Tesoro estadounidense, describió en una entrevista reciente lo que calificó como un plan deliberado: la administración Trump está aplicando contra Cuba la misma campaña de presión financiera que ejecutó en Venezuela, aprovechando que las condiciones actuales hacen más viable su éxito.
Durante décadas, Cuba dependió de apoyos externos para sobrevivir. Primero fueron los subsidios soviéticos; luego, el petróleo barato que Hugo Chávez y Nicolás Maduro enviaban a la isla, un salvavidas silencioso que permitió a La Habana capear las sanciones estadounidenses. Ese acuerdo se rompió con la caída de Maduro, y con él desapareció el sustento económico fundamental del régimen cubano.
Billingslea presentó este quiebre no como una casualidad sino como el resultado de una estrategia. Tras la salida de Maduro, Washington no se retiró de Venezuela: se posicionó para controlar cómo fluyen sus ingresos petroleros, que ahora pasan por cuentas del Tesoro estadounidense. Al cortar ese flujo hacia Cuba, la administración ha creado un momento de vulnerabilidad aguda para el gobierno de la isla.
La táctica replica lo aplicado en Venezuela: sanciones financieras en capas, restricciones al sistema bancario internacional y control de activos estatales como palanca de negociación. El objetivo declarado es arrancar concesiones a Cuba —elecciones, desmantelamiento del aparato de seguridad, apertura política— antes de considerar cualquier alivio de las sanciones.
Lo que distinguió a la entrevista fue la confianza casi despreocupada con que Billingslea expuso todo esto. Habló del control sobre los ingresos venezolanos como un hecho ya establecido, y añadió un comentario revelador sobre el funcionario venezolano Diosdado Cabello: expresó la esperanza de que pudiera ser capturado pronto, insinuando que las ambiciones de Washington incluyen la remoción física de figuras clave. Si esta presión producirá las transformaciones que busca o, por el contrario, endurecerá la resistencia y profundizará la inestabilidad regional, es algo que aún está por verse.
Marshall Billingslea, who once held the Treasury Department's counter-terrorism financing post, sat down recently for an interview and laid out what he described as a deliberate playbook: the Trump administration is now running against Cuba the same financial pressure campaign it executed in Venezuela. The difference, he suggested, is that this time the conditions are ripe for it to work.
For decades, Cuba's survival depended on external life support. First came Soviet subsidies during the Cold War. When that dried up, Venezuela stepped in—Hugo Chávez and then Nicolás Maduro pumped cheap oil to the island, keeping the lights on and the regime afloat. That arrangement held for years, a quiet economic lifeline that allowed Havana to weather American sanctions. But that pipeline has now been severed. Maduro fell from power, and with him went the oil shipments that had become Cuba's economic backbone.
Billingslea framed this not as coincidence but as design. The Trump administration, he explained, did not simply remove Maduro from power in Venezuela and walk away. Instead, it positioned itself to control how Venezuela's petroleum revenues flow. Those oil earnings now move through Treasury Department accounts in the United States. Washington, in other words, holds the spigot. And by cutting off the flow to Cuba, it has created a moment of acute vulnerability for the island's government.
The strategy mirrors what the administration did in Venezuela itself—layering financial sanctions, restricting access to international banking systems, and using control of state assets as leverage. Billingslea was explicit about the intent: the administration plans to keep tightening the screws on Cuba through coordinated Treasury and State Department measures. The goal is to force concessions: elections, a rollback of the security apparatus, a loosening of state control. Only then, he suggested, would Washington consider easing sanctions.
What made the interview notable was not just the strategy itself but the casual confidence with which Billingslea discussed it. He spoke of controlling Venezuelan oil revenues as though it were already settled fact. He noted that Diosdado Cabello, a longtime Venezuelan official, remains in the country, and added a remark that hung in the air: "Let's hope we can capture him soon." The comment suggested that the administration's ambitions in Venezuela extend beyond economic pressure to the physical removal of specific individuals from power.
The picture Billingslea painted was of a coordinated, multi-front operation. Venezuela's new political order is being shaped by Washington's financial control. Cuba, starved of its primary economic support, faces mounting pressure. And the administration is signaling that it will not consider its work complete until the political structures in both countries have been fundamentally altered. Whether that pressure produces the outcomes Washington seeks—or instead hardens resistance and deepens regional instability—remains to be seen.
Citações Notáveis
This administration is doing with Cuba what we did with Venezuela in the first administration— Marshall Billingslea, former Treasury Department counter-terrorism financing official
We can basically control how Venezuelan oil revenues are distributed. Everything flows through a Treasury account here in the United States— Marshall Billingslea
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
When Billingslea talks about controlling Venezuelan oil revenues through U.S. Treasury accounts, what does that actually mean in practice?
It means the money from oil sales doesn't go to whoever is running Venezuela's government. It flows into American accounts, and Washington decides how much gets released, to whom, and under what conditions. It's financial leverage made concrete.
And Cuba loses its subsidy because of this?
Exactly. Venezuela can't send cheap oil to Cuba anymore because Venezuela itself doesn't have access to its own oil money. Cuba's been cut off from its lifeline without Washington having to directly embargo Venezuelan-Cuban trade.
Is this new, or has the U.S. done this before?
The mechanism isn't entirely new, but the scale and coordination seem to be. Billingslea is saying this is the same playbook they used on Venezuela, now applied to Cuba. The difference is they're doing it with Venezuela already under their control.
What does "capture him soon" mean when he's talking about Diosdado?
It suggests the administration's goals go beyond economic pressure. They want specific people out of power, possibly in custody. It's not just about changing policy—it's about removing individuals from the board entirely.
And the conditions for sanctions relief?
Elections, reduced repression, dismantling of security apparatus. Basically, the administration is saying: restructure your government along lines we approve of, and we'll consider letting your economy breathe again.