S8 Ep484: Cuba's Severe Energy and Economic Collapse. Evan Ellis describes the catastrophic collapse of Cuba's economy. Cut off from Venezuelan and Mexican oil, the island faces severe rationing, blackouts, halted public services, and completely collapsed tourism.
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 19 February 2026
⏱️ 7 minutes
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Summary
Cuba's Severe Energy and Economic Collapse. Evan Ellis describes the catastrophic collapse of Cuba's economy. Cut off from Venezuelan and Mexican oil, the island faces severe rationing, blackouts, halted public services, and completely collapsed tourism. With millions fleeing the dire conditions, the communist regime's survival is heavily strained as basic resources fail. #6
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm John Batchel, with Professor Aben Ellis of the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute. |
| 0:21.5 | This is the New World Report. |
| 0:23.5 | Reuters within these last hours. |
| 0:26.5 | The White House. |
| 0:27.5 | The White House said it was in Cuba's best interest to make significant changes soon. |
| 0:33.4 | But the White House stopped short of calling for a changing government leadership. |
| 0:37.9 | They are a regime that is failing. |
| 0:41.7 | Their country is collapsing, and that's why we believe it's in their best interest to make |
| 0:45.6 | very dramatic changes very soon, said the White House spokesperson, Press Secretary Carolyn |
| 0:51.4 | leave it. |
| 0:53.2 | The Reuters tracking newsletter is looking very carefully at all of this. |
| 0:58.1 | There's lots of mail. |
| 1:00.1 | Cuba has lots of friends around the world. |
| 1:02.4 | Has for decades. |
| 1:04.3 | And yet it's in the hands of men who act as if they are indifferent to the struggles of their own people. |
| 1:12.7 | They're essentially without energy now. |
| 1:16.0 | The oil cutoff is profound. |
| 1:18.2 | It's purposeful. |
| 1:19.4 | The U.S. forbids oil from Venezuela, forbids oil from Mexico. |
| 1:24.9 | There is no other natural resource. |
| 1:30.7 | The island is effectively going dark. |
| 1:36.6 | And what is to be done? Professor, I don't ask for solutions. What is to be done is waiting for the State Department to fill in the blanks? What is the estimate of how many people |
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