Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Jan. 28 disavowed any Trump administration plans to topple the Cuban government. But he added, “I think we would like to see the regime there change.”

Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has long advocated the overthrow of Havana’s communist regime. And in the wake of the Trump administration’s avowed success in Venezuela, the White House is ramping up the pressure on Cuba.

The day after Rubio testified, President Donald Trump issued an executive order “to impose tariffs on goods from countries that sell or otherwise provide oil to Cuba.” With no more than a 20-day stockpile of oil, if such duties would go into effect, the Cuban economy could sputter to a halt. “Cuba will be failing pretty soon,” Trump predicted last week.

On Thursday, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel responded, “Cuba is willing to hold dialogue with the United States — a dialogue on any issue . . . with no preconditions . . . respecting our sovereignty, independence, self-determination.”

But the administration should be careful what it wishes for. If they break it, they own it. And while the downfall of the Cuban regime has long been Washington’s goal, if Cuba’s economic and political transition is botched, the Trump White House will only have itself to blame. 

The Swiss Embassy in Havana reports that “the Cuban economy is currently experiencing what is........

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