As the United States continues to keep an eye on the Cuban regime, questions about the island nation’s future continue, as Heritage Foundation Senior Fellow Mike Gonzalez believes that this is “the closest the Cuban regime has come to falling.”
The country has been in the spotlight as it faces blackouts amid an energy blockade, but it’s also the subject of American security concerns, as an Axios report in May indicated Cuba has a stockpile of drones, likely from Iran and Russia – an unsettling development amid the U.S.’s ongoing tensions with the Islamic Republic.
“The Iranian Revolution and the Cuban Revolution are very different events and very different entities. And yet they both share this deep, deep hatred of the West, all things Western, and primarily the United States because we're the Western, we're the top Western champion right now,” Gonzalez explained.
President Donald Trump told Townhall in July that “it could be that they’re storing some [Iranian drones], we’re looking into it now, it could be so, and it could be isn’t. But we’ll figure it out fast,” stressing that “we're not going to allow that to happen.”
Trump said U.S. will “take care of it in short order” when I asked about Iranian drones concerns.
— Cameron Arcand (@cameron_arcand) July 13, 2026
Also asked about his address on Thursday night, but details are mostly under wraps as of now. @townhallcom pic.twitter.com/2CD7jYTfdu
“It's not an empty threat at all,” the researcher noted regarding the communist regime’s reported drone supply, explaining that “Cuba has been involved with many, many attempts at destabilizing the United States,” particularly through left-wing activism. The State Department released a report in July arguing that "for nearly seven decades, the Cuban regime has waged a sustained campaign of subversion against the United States."
Gonzalez noted that even though President Miguel Díaz-Canel is technically at the helm, the Castro family still plays a major role in how the government functions. Former Cuban President Raúl Castro, and Fidel Castro’s brother, remains in Cuba, but was indicted by the United States in June for their alleged part in two American aircraft being shot down in 1996.
“I actually do think that this time the chances are better than not that it will fall. I think the thing that it looks like they might try to do next is replace the puppet dictator they have right now, Miguel Díaz-Canel, with Raul Castro's grandson, Raulito Rodríguez Castro,” he said, noting ways that the Communist Party of Cuba might try to retain its grip on power.
Gonzalez pointed out that Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro is “minimizing” Díaz-Canel, highlighting his comments in a July interview with USA Today, where he referred to him as “Miguelito."
In the USA Today interview, Rodriguez Castro said he “can negotiate with anyone designated by the U.S.,” including Trump. The Castro family member also said that despite “never” having political interest, he said that “if at some point the revolution needs me to step up, [he] will do it.”
“I think a lot of the people there in positions of power no longer really believe that communism works. They've seen communism fail,” he said, adding that “if the incentive equation changes, what loyalty do they have to the regime?”
However, Gonzalez noted that “the only people who really know what's going on are named Donald Trump and Marco Rubio.”
As for the domestic response to the drone reports, a Department of War spokesperson explained that it “won’t speculate on future operations or hypotheticals.”
“The Department of War stands ready to execute the orders of the Commander-in Chief at any time, in any place,” the spokesperson added.
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