Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s Latin America Brief.

The highlights this week: U.S. talks with Cuba appear to intensify, two key Caribbean newspapers shut down, and Venezuela bests the United States in a baseball championship.

Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s Latin America Brief.

The highlights this week: U.S. talks with Cuba appear to intensify, two key Caribbean newspapers shut down, and Venezuela bests the United States in a baseball championship.

As the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran continues, U.S. President Donald Trump has doubled down on vows to use American power to alter the destiny of a much weaker country: Cuba. “I do believe I’ll have the honor of taking Cuba,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “I can do anything I want with it.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month that the United States would like to see economic and political liberalization in Havana. Trump and Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel have confirmed ongoing negotiations between the countries. In the meantime, Washington has severely restricted fuel shipments to the island, which suffered a complete blackout on Monday.

Also on Monday, U.S. pressure appeared to produce a political result: Cuba’s deputy prime minister said that the government would introduce permissions for Cuban nationals living overseas to invest in and own companies on the island. Rubio, who is Cuban American, was quick to say the announcement did not go far enough.

In addition to policy changes, multiple news organizations have reported that the United States wants to see Díaz-Canel leave office. Some reports suggested the Trump administration would accept an arrangement in Cuba that leaves many current government officials in place, similar to how the United States dealt with Venezuela after removing President Nicolás Maduro in January.

“The administration might settle for something less than regime change,” William LeoGrande and Peter Kornbluh wrote this week in Foreign Policy.

That possibility has alarmed many Cubans who seek political liberties, both inside the country and in the diaspora. Trump’s approach to Venezuela—though fluid—has cast the prospect of intervention without democratization in sharp relief. On Wednesday, acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez........

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