Cuban activist to Trump: ‘Make Cuba great again’ by ending communist rule

As Cuba faces rolling blackouts, food shortages and renewed protests, Cuban human rights activist Rosa María Payá is warning in an interview to Fox News Digital that the island’s deepening crisis cannot be solved with economic reforms alone and is urging the United States to maintain pressure on the communist government in Havana.

The recent outages and shortages are tied to Cuba’s worsening energy and economic crisis. 

A recent nationwide blackout was triggered by a failure at the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, the island’s largest power station, cutting electricity across much of the country, according to Reuters. The crisis has been compounded by fuel shortages after the Trump administration moved to curtail oil shipments to the island, particularly from Venezuela — one of Cuba’s main suppliers. 

Cuban officials say U.S. sanctions have worsened the country’s economic difficulties, while repeated power plant failures and an aging electrical grid have left millions facing prolonged blackouts that have fueled growing public frustration and protests.

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The state-run company blamed U.S. sanctions in an official statement, saying, "Without ending the financial blockade, there can be no permanent energy stability," according to CubaHeadlines.

The Trump administration has increased pressure on Cuba in recent months, tightening sanctions and targeting oil shipments that help power the island’s energy system. The measures are part of a broader effort to weaken the Cuban government and support democratic change on the island. 

"To President Trump, it's important for you to know that the Cuban people are grateful for what this administration is doing and that we are ready, and we want to make Cuba great again," Payá said, addressing him directly. "And that means an end to the communist dictatorship, not just a new economy, but a new republic." 

Her appeal comes as Cuba has re-emerged in Washington’s foreign policy discussions. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and one of the most prominent Cuban–American voices in U.S. politics, long has advocated a tougher stance toward Havana and stronger support for pro-democracy movements on the island. 

The Trump administration recently has increased pressure on the Cuban government, including measures targeting oil shipments that help sustain the island’s struggling energy sector. 

Trump praised Rubio during a press conference Tuesday and suggested he could play a central role in any potential negotiations with Havana.

"Marco Rubio is doing a great job," Trump said. "I think he's going to go down as the greatest secretary of state in history. They trust Marco."

"We want to work with President Trump and with Secretary Rubio, the opposition is united," Payá said. "We have a plan. It's called the Freedom Accord," she added, referring to a democratic transition framework promoted by opposition groups in Cuba. "We are ready to lead this process. The moment is now, Mr. President."

Opposition groups have developed the Freedom Accord, a political roadmap for democratic change, which she says would guide a transition away from the current system in Cuba. 

Payá, 37, who escaped the country 13 years ago, has spent the past decade advocating internationally for democratic change in Cuba. 

She is the daughter of prominent dissident Oswaldo Payá, founder of the Christian Liberation Movement and architect of the Varela Project, a petition campaign in the early 2000s that gathered more than 25,000 signatures demanding free elections and civil liberties in Cuba.

Her father died in 2012 alongside fellow activist Harold Cepero in what Payá describes as an assassination by the Cuban regime. Cuban authorities said the men were killed in a car crash in eastern Cuba, but the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights later concluded there were "serious indications" that Cuban state agents were involved in the deaths.

"After the Cuban regime assassinated my father … I have been trying to follow his legacy together with many, many other Cubans on the island and in exile that today believe that we have a real chance and freedom," she said, describing a movement that today includes activists both on the island and in exile.

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The crisis inside Cuba has reached a level where basic survival has become a daily struggle for many families, according to Payá.  

"The situation today is that mothers don't know if they are going to be able to feed their child tonight," she said. "Most of the island has been suffering blackouts that last for days on many occasions."The island has experienced waves of unrest in recent years driven by economic collapse and political repression. 

The largest demonstrations against the regime erupted on July 11, 2021, when thousands of Cubans took to the streets across the island chanting "freedom" in the biggest protests since the 1959 revolution.

Authorities responded with mass arrests and prison sentences for many demonstrators. 

For Payá, those protests reflected something deeper than economic frustration.

"The Cuban people have been fighting for freedom for the last 67 years," she said. "We are demanding political freedom, not just a new economy."

Despite comparisons between Cuba’s crisis and the political turmoil in Venezuela, Payá argues the situation in Cuba is fundamentally different. 

"Cuba's situation is quite different," she said. "This is the longest running communist dictatorship in the Western hemisphere." 

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While she emphasized that Cubans themselves must ultimately drive political change, Payá said international pressure remains essential because of the regime’s ability to repress dissent.

Her appeal comes as Cuba has re-emerged in Washington’s foreign policy discussions.

Payá said the Cuban opposition hopes the United States will continue supporting democratic change on the island.

"I believe that President Trump knows very well, better than anyone, the difference between a real deal and a better one," she said. "He understands that this dictatorship must end."

"To end the crisis," she added, "we need to end the regime."

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Rubio for comment and has not yet received a reply. 

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Vietnam urges work from home amid fuel supply, price crunch in Mideast

Vietnam’s trade ministry is urging businesses to encourage employees to work from home to curb fuel consumption as the country grapples with supply disruptions and sharp price increases triggered by the U.S.-Israeli war involving Iran.

In a statement on Tuesday, the government said Vietnam has been among the nations hardest hit by the turmoil due to its heavy reliance on energy imports from the Middle East. Citing a report from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, it called on companies to "encourage work-from-home when possible to reduce the need for travel and transportation."

Fuel prices have surged since the end of last month, with gasoline up 32%, diesel rising 56% and kerosene climbing 80%, according to data from Petrolimex, the country’s top fuel trader. Long lines of cars and motorbikes were seen at petrol stations in Hanoi on Tuesday.

The ministry also urged businesses and individuals not to hoard or speculate on fuel.

GAS PRICES COULD JUMP AS MIDDLE EAST TENSIONS THREATEN GLOBAL OIL SUPPLY

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Monday held calls with leaders of Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to secure additional fuel and crude oil supplies. The government has also removed import tariffs on fuels through the end of April in a bid to ease pressure on the market.

President Donald Trump's strikes on Iran have made for volatile crude markets, with prices surging to $120 a barrel in the U.S. over the weekend before dipping back to just over $80 on Monday night as Trump spoke to a Republican retreat in Florida.

Prices have stabilized after Trump assured investors the Strait of Hormuz will be safe for oil tankers in the Middle East, a notorious choke point for the largely dismantled Iranian regime.

TRUMP IS REALIGNING WORLD ENERGY MARKETS AND THE IRAN STRIKES ARE ACTUALLY HELPING

The situation in the region remains tenuous as Iran has announced Mojtaba Khamenei as the next supreme leader, a decision that Trump told Fox News that he "was not happy" about.

"I don't believe he can live in peace," Trump said from Air Force One.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard said Tuesday they would not let any oil out of the Middle East until U.S. and Israeli attacks cease, a threat that had prompted Trump to threaten to hit Iran "20 times harder" if it blocked exports.

US SIGNALS READINESS TO ESCORT TANKERS THROUGH HORMUZ AS TRAFFIC THINS BUT NO MISSION LAUNCHED

Despite the defiant rhetoric from both sides, investors placed strong bets Tuesday that Trump would call off his war soon, before the unprecedented disruption it has caused to energy supplies causes a global economic meltdown.

"I'm hearing they want to talk badly," Trump said, as the Department of War has claimed 50 Iranian naval vessels have been sunk and Trump is suggesting the war objections are weeks ahead of schedule, if not nearly "complete."

"It's possible," Trump added of engaging the new Iranian leadership, descendants of the deceased leaders, but said it "depends on what terms, possible, only possible."

"You know, we sort of don't have to speak anymore, you know, if you really think about it, but it's possible," he said.

Fox News' Trey Yingst and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Ukraine sending drone team to help protect US bases in Jordan at Washington’s request, Zelenskyy says

Ukraine has dispatched interceptor drones and a team of drone specialists to help protect U.S. military bases in Jordan as fighting tied to the Iran war intensifies across the region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with The New York Times.

Zelenskyy told the NYT that Washington made the request on Thursday, and Kyiv moved swiftly to respond, dispatching the drone team the following day.

"We reacted immediately," Zelenskyy said. "I said, yes, of course, we will send our experts."

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for confirmation.

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The reported request comes as the U.S. and Gulf states work to intercept hundreds of Iranian missiles and thousands of drones launched in retaliation for U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iranian drones have struck the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, including an attack on a tactical operations center in Kuwait that killed six U.S. service members.

The high volume of Iranian Shahed drone launches has drawn attention to the cost disparity between the relatively inexpensive unmanned aircraft and the far more sophisticated air defense systems, such as Patriot missiles, used to intercept them.

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According to the Department of the Army's Fiscal Year 2026 budget estimates, the cost for a single Patriot PAC-3 MSE interceptor is $3.8 million.

A basic Iranian-designed Shahed drone costs roughly $20,000 to $50,000, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

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"Iran knows it can’t match the U.S. or Gulf states plane for plane or missile for missile, but it can change the economics of the conflict," said Patrycja Bazylczyk, an associate director with the Missile Defense Project at CSIS, in an interview with Military Times.

"Drones let Iran punch above its weight, keep its adversaries off balance, and project power across the region at minimal cost. We can’t just play whack-a-mole in the sky," she added. "Shooting drones down one by one is the most expensive way to fight the cheapest threat. We have to go after the roots – the launch sites, the production lines, and the storage depots."

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Trump says it’s an ‘honor’ to keep Strait of Hormuz open for China and other countries

President Donald Trump said he wants to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, saying it would be an "honor" to do so in an effort to help other nations that rely on the vital Middle East waterway.

Trump was speaking with reporters in Florida on Monday, when he was asked about the global energy choke point, which has been disrupted amid back-and-forth attacks between Iran and Israel and the United States. 

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At about 21 miles wide at its narrowest point, the Strait of Hormuz is between Iran and Oman and carries roughly 20 million barrels a day and about one-fifth of global liquefied natural gas, making it a top-value target when conflict in the region erupts.

"We're really helping China here and other countries because they get a lot of their energy from the Straits," Trump said. "We have a good relationship with China. It's my honor to do it."

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Trump is slated to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this month. While touting the United States' new energy partnership with Venezuela, Trump noted that China gets its oil through the strait. 

"I mean, we're doing this for the other parts of the world, including countries like China," he said. "They get a lot of their oil through the straits."

"We have a very good relationship with President XI (Jinping) and China," he added. "I'm going there in a short period of time, and we're protecting the world from what these lunatics are trying to do, and very successfully I might add."

The U.S. will also waive all oil-related sanctions on some countries in an effort to reduce energy prices amid the conflict in the Middle East, Trump said. 

Later, Trump reaffirmed his position on the strait in a fiery Truth Social post.

"If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far. Additionally, we will take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation, again — Death, Fire, and Fury will reign upon them — But I hope, and pray, that it does not happen!," he wrote.

"This is a gift from the United States of America to China, and all of those Nations that heavily use the Hormuz Strait. Hopefully, it is a gesture that will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"

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Iranian Kurdish fighters say they’re ready to strike Tehran, waiting for opening

EXCLUSIVE: Iranian Kurdish opposition groups say they are prepared to challenge Tehran but are holding back for now as the war between the United States, Israel and the Islamic Republic continues to unfold.

Khalid Azizi, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI), told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that Kurdish forces are closely watching developments but have no plans to launch a ground offensive at this stage.

Reports in recent days have suggested that President Donald Trump spoke with Mustafa Hijri, the leader of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, as Washington explores possible Kurdish involvement in pressure on Iran. 

Azizi declined to confirm or deny whether such a conversation took place.

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Azizi himself has firsthand experience with Iran’s military retaliation. 

In 2018, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles at the KDPI headquarters in Koy Sanjaq in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region during a leadership meeting, killing at least 18 people and injuring dozens.

"We have been targeted by the Islamic Republic," Azizi said. "The first Iranian missile was sent to my headquarters and I was personally injured in that attack," Azizi said.

Despite the risks, Azizi said Kurdish resistance remains strong after decades of confrontation with Iran. 

"The Iranian Kurdish resistance movement is actually very strong because we have been on the ground since the Iranian revolution," he said.

Azizi spoke from Washington, D.C., where he said Kurdish representatives were meeting with policymakers and institutions to discuss the situation in Iran and the role Kurdish groups could play if the conflict evolves.

But for now, Kurdish groups say they are waiting to see how the broader war develops.

"We are ready and our party is well organized," Azizi said. "But right now we do not have any intention to enter Iranian Kurdistan because the ground forces in this war have not been a topic."

"It’s very easy to start a war," he added. "But it will be more complicated how to end this war."

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The KDPI is one of the oldest Kurdish opposition movements fighting Iran’s Islamic Republic. The group is a member of the Socialist International and operates primarily from bases in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and has been in armed and political opposition to Tehran since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Azizi said Kurdish political movements have recently taken a significant step by forming a joint alliance aimed at coordinating their political strategy.

"We have managed to create a unity among the Kurdish political parties," he said. "This has been welcomed by the Iranian Kurdish people and by different Iranian political parties."

The alliance, known as the Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan, brings together several historically divided Kurdish factions that oppose the Islamic Republic.

Azizi said the future of Iran will ultimately depend on whether Iranians themselves rise up against the regime.

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"If you look at the goal of the United States and Israel in this war, they have been targeting the Iranian military, security and political institutions. In this aspect Iran has been weakened," he said.

"But the regime still remains in power because people are not on the streets and there is no alternative right now to replace this regime."

Azizi urged Western governments to focus not only on the military campaign but also on helping Iranian opposition movements coordinate politically.

Iran, he said, is a multi-ethnic country whose future stability will depend on building a democratic system that includes all of its communities.

"The path and the roadmap for rebuilding Iran must be based on the participation of all ethnic groups," Azizi said. "Iran is a multi-ethnic society."

For now, he said, Kurdish fighters remain in a holding pattern.

"We have the ability and we have the capacity," Azizi said. "But it is not easy right now for us to make any decision regarding entering Iranian Kurdistan."

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Iran’s new supreme leader is ‘his father on steroids,’ experts warn of hardline rule

"Think of Mojtaba Khamenei as his father on steroids."

That is how Kasra Aarabi, director of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps research at the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, described Iran’s new supreme leader in comments to Fox News Digital following reports that the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been selected to lead the Islamic Republic.

"Mojtaba was already operating as a ‘mini supreme leader’ in the Bayt-e Rahbari — his father’s office and the core nucleus of power in the regime," Aarabi said.

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"His father had created the Bayt’s extensive apparatus as a hidden power structure to ensure continuity should he be eliminated — and through Mojtaba’s appointment, this is exactly what we will get," Aarabi said.

President Donald Trump also reacted to Mojtaba Khamenei’s rise. In an interview with the New York Post, Trump said he was "not happy with" the younger Khamenei replacing his father as leader of Iran’s theocratic system but declined to elaborate on how the United States might respond. "Not going to tell you," Trump said when asked about his plans regarding the new supreme leader. "Not going to tell you. I’m not happy with him."

An Iranian source with knowledge of the leadership transition told Fox News Digital that earlier speculation Mojtaba might pursue reforms now appears unlikely given the circumstances surrounding his appointment.

"Previously there were whispers suggesting that if Mojtaba were to become the leader, he might introduce reforms that would both open up the domestic political space and bring a more interactive approach to foreign policy," the source said.

"However, now this possibility seems very weak."

Mojtaba was chosen "amid disputes, controversies, and pressure from the IRGC," according to the source, meaning he "owes his appointment to their support and therefore cannot act against their wishes."

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Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, has spent decades building influence inside the power structures surrounding Iran’s supreme leader.

Born in 1969 in Mashhad, he pursued clerical studies in Tehran, Iran, after the 1979 Islamic Revolution that brought his father to prominence. Over time, however, analysts say his influence developed less through traditional clerical authority and more through Iran’s security institutions.

In 2019, the United States sanctioned Mojtaba under Executive Order 13867. The U.S. Treasury Department said he had been "representing the supreme leader in an official capacity despite never being elected or appointed to a government position aside from work in the office of his father."

Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Iran Program, said Mojtaba’s background reflects a broader shift inside the Islamic Republic.

"Despite donning a turban, Mojtaba is the product of the regime’s national security deep state," Ben Taleblu told Fox News Digital. "Expect him to work with and through the IRGC to keep his hold on power."

Aarabi said Mojtaba has spent years consolidating influence behind the scenes.

"His past tells us he enjoys micromanaging every aspect of authority to satisfy his thirst for power," Aarabi said, describing how Mojtaba allegedly relocated IRGC command centers to his office during protests, engineered election outcomes and installed loyalists across state institutions.

Since 2019, Aarabi added, Mojtaba has also been implementing what he described as his father’s effort to "purify" the regime by promoting ideological loyalists across the political system.

"Mojtaba is a deeply antisemitic, anti-American, and anti-Western ideologue," Aarabi said. "He has personally been involved in repression in Iran and terror plots abroad."

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Analysts say Mojtaba’s rise may further strengthen the role of Iran’s security institutions.

"The rise of the younger Khamenei expedites trendlines seen in Iranian politics and national security for years," Ben Taleblu said. "From one Khamenei to another, things in Iran can be expected to go from bad to worse if this regime survives."

"And like the elder Khamenei, corruption runs in the family," he added.

Ben Taleblu warned that the regime may also escalate tensions externally as a survival strategy.

"The regime knows it is weak, but believes it can extract a price and widen a crisis in order to survive," he said.

For opposition groups inside Iran, the leadership transition signals continuity rather than reform.

"He's the son of Khamenei and they have same ideology and they same strategy and they try to continue the same policy," said Khalid Azizi, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran.

"So far it's very difficult to say what he will be done and is he going to have a different policy? I don't expect this."

The Iranian source who spoke with Fox News Digital said that while engagement with the United States and the West is theoretically possible in the future, the chances remain slim.

"As I mentioned," the source said, "this possibility is very weak."

"In short," Aarabi said, "Mojtaba is his father on steroids. He’s certainly no MBS."

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Hegseth warns ‘more casualties’ expected in Operation Epic Fury against Iran

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth warned that more casualties are expected in the ongoing Operation Epic Fury in Iran, with seven U.S. soldiers having been killed so far in the fighting.

Hegseth made the comment during an interview with CBS’ "60 Minutes" that aired on Sunday.

"The president's been right to say there will be casualties," Hegseth said. "Things like this don't happen without casualties."

"There will be more casualties," he continued. "And no one is — I mean, especially our generation knows what it's like to see Americans come home in caskets, it's — but that doesn't weaken us one bit. It stiffens our spine and our resolve to say this is a fight we will finish."

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Six U.S. service members were killed in a March 1 Iranian drone attack in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, while supporting Operation Epic Fury. The U.S. military said a seventh service member died of injuries from an Iranian attack on troops in Saudi Arabia on March 1.

The U.S. and Israel last week launched joint strikes against Iran. Iran has retaliated, launching strikes against Israel and neighboring Gulf Arab states, including Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi on Sunday told NBC News’ "Meet the Press" that if the U.S. deploys ground troops in Iran, "we have very brave soldiers who are waiting for any enemy who enters into our soil, to fight with them and to kill them and destroy them."

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"We never give up, we never surrender, and we continue to resist as long as it takes," he said. "We continue to defend ourselves, and we are defending our territory, our people and our dignity. And our dignity is not for sale."

When reporters asked President Donald Trump aboard Air Force One on Saturday about potential ground troops being used in the Iran operation, the president said there would "have to be a very good reason."

"And I would say if we ever did that, [Iran] would be so decimated they wouldn't be able to fight at the ground level," Trump told reporters.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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