Ever since U.S. commandos removed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power in January, Washington has piled unprecedented pressure on Cuba, Caracas’s beleaguered former ally. The island’s economy had already been spiraling as a result of the first Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” sanctions, the COVID-19 pandemic, and Havana’s failure to adopt deeper economic reforms. But Cuba’s loss of access to heavily discounted Venezuelan oil dealt a lethal blow. U.S. President Donald Trump’s de facto oil blockade of the island the last five months—the White House has let through just one Russian tanker—has pushed the country to the precipice: power blackouts are now daily and unpredictable, basic services have ground to a halt, and citizens are growing desperate.…