Jorge Mas: "What Trump did with Venezuela works there, but it won't work in Cuba"

May 17, 2026

Jorge Mas Santos, the most influential anti-Castro leader among Cuban exiles in the United States, gave an exclusive interview to El País in which he outlined his vision for Cuba's political transition and explained why the strategy Washington used to oust Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela cannot be replicated the same way on the island.

Mas Santos, 63, is president of the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), majority shareholder of MasTec — an engineering and infrastructure company listed on Wall Street — and owner of Inter Miami, the club that signed Lionel Messi in 2023. The son of Jorge Mas Canosa, the historic promoter of the Helms-Burton Act that tightened the U.S. embargo against Cuba, he is today the central figure of the Cuban-American lobby in Washington.

Ever since the U.S. military operation captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro in January 2026, Mas has intensified his efforts to design post-Castro scenarios for Cuba. Washington's pressure on Havana — through an oil stranglehold — has pushed the island to the brink of collapse and forced its leaders to negotiate, including an unprecedented face-to-face meeting with CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who visited Havana last week.

Mas describes these moves as "part of a very clear strategy by President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio." However, he warns that the structural differences between Venezuela and Cuba make it impossible to apply the same playbook. Unlike Venezuela, Cuba lacks a strong autonomous military structure that can be fractured through economic pressure, requiring a different approach.

To support his vision for Cuba's future, Mas has drafted two key documents. The first, titled "Roadmap for a Prosperous, Democratic, and Market-Economy Cuba," proposes modernizing the island's banking system, eliminating income taxes, promoting tax exemptions for companies with at least 10% national capital participation, and prioritizing the pharmaceutical, military, and heavy industrial sectors.

The second is a draft "Fundamental Law for Democratic Transition," prepared in collaboration with the Cuban American Bar Association. It is a 28-page document with constitutional structure that includes a preamble, 115 articles, and nine transitional provisions.

Although he has never set foot on Cuban soil, Mas expects to do so soon. "The situation is unsustainable. The system doesn't work. Cuba is a failed state, unable to provide its citizens with basic things: food, electricity, water, much less opportunities," he says. According to him, changes could materialize within months — possibly before the end of summer, or even within weeks.

Source: El País, May 17, 2026.