WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has increased pressure on Cuba, but experts say the island nation is unlikely to follow Venezuela's path.
In Venezuela, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez assumed power after Maduro's ouster. Cuba lacks a similar deputy to President Miguel Diaz-Canel or Raul Castro.
"The security apparatus in Cuba has dismantled every alternative power source," said Orlando Pérez, an expert at the University of North Texas.
Venezuela has a popular opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado. Cuba has no equivalent figure.
Raul Rodriguez Castro, grandson of the former president, met with CIA Director John Ratcliffe, but he holds no official position and is not expected to betray his family.
Cuba has been a U.S. antagonist since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution. Trump is backed by hardline Cuban-Americans in Florida pushing for regime change.
Experts warn instability could spark a migration crisis. Cuba's military is more ideologically cohesive than Venezuela's and could put up a fight.
Cuba lacks natural resources like oil. Its tourism industry lags behind other Caribbean destinations.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Cuba hawk and son of Cuban immigrants, drives Trump's Cuba policy. Success could bolster his political ambitions, but failure poses risks amid budget deficits and the Iran campaign.
The 1996 Helms-Burton Act ties lifting the U.S. embargo to democratic reforms. Trump cannot legally change Cuba without cooperation from Cuban officials.
Cuba's economy lacks a private sector and is dominated by Gaesa, a military conglomerate under U.S. sanctions.
