Top U.S. Official In Cuba Says The Regime Will Fall Before The End of The Year: 'We Believe Change Is Coming'

The U.S.'s top official in Cuba said he believes the regime will fall before the end of the year. Mike Hammer said "we believe change is coming" and it will happen in "2026," according to the Miami Herald.

"The dictatorship will end," Hammer said in Spanish at an event during the weekend. He went on to claim that "there was no hope" at the end of the Biden administration, but now there is "an expectation that there will be change."

A recent report by The New York Times detailed that anxiety and speculation are rising in the island following U.S. military actions in Venezuela and Iran, with some residents now openly discussing the possibility of intervention on the island.

In recent weeks, Cuban counterintelligence agents in civilian clothing visited Communist Party neighborhood representatives near a military installation in Havana, requesting the names of residents living nearby.

According to local delegates, evacuation plans were being drafted after the U.S. operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and killed more than 100 people, including 32 Cubans assigned to guard him.

Another report noted that President Donald Trump is considering the possibility of pursuing regime change in the country, believing that the administration's belligerent stance is working.

Speaking to The Atlantic, a U.S. official detailed Trump's mindset at the moment, saying he is "feeling like, 'I'm on a roll.'"

In fact, the president said on Friday that "we could very well end up having a friendly takeover of Cuba" amid reports that his administration is having talks with the grandson of Raul Castro about the future of the beleaguered Caribbean island.

Speaking to press at the White House lawn last week, Trump said that "the Cuban government is talking with us."

"They're in a big deal of trouble. They have no money. They have nothing right now. But they're talking with us. Maybe we'll have a friendly takeover of Cuba. We could very well end up having a friendly takeover of Cuba," Trump added.