Re-Building Cuba: Taking the Island Nation Means Reconstruction of Every Core System from Scratch
As Cuba edges closer to systemic collapse, the question is no longer whether the island nation is in crisis—but how far that collapse may go, and what the international response will require when it does. Against this backdrop, John deVerteuil, CEO of Nation Building Advisory Group and a retired Green Beret Sergeant Major with 33 years of global operational experience, offers a rare combination of combat-tested and nation-building expertise.
- Cuba’s humanitarian crisis is accelerating amid fuel, food, and medicine shortages
- Elderly populations face extreme vulnerability as social safety nets collapse
- U.S.–Cuba tensions remain central to long-standing instability and policy gridlock
- Economic breakdown is pushing that country toward potential systemic state failure
- Nation-building frameworks may become necessary if conditions continue deteriorating
His book is called We Are America: A voice from the silent majority
Recent reporting underscores a rapidly deteriorating situation: elderly Cubans are now among the hardest hit, with retirees surviving on pensions as low as $4 a month, relying on church aid just to eat. Basic services—from electricity to medical care—are buckling under fuel shortages, blackouts, and economic contraction that has left much of the population in survival mode.
At the same time, Cuba’s crisis cannot be separated from its long and complicated history with the United States. As CBS News documents, tensions stretching back more than six decades—from the revolution and Bay of Pigs to the enduring embargo—have shaped a relationship defined by confrontation, intervention, and political stalemate. Today, that history is converging with a present-day reality in which U.S. policy and energy restrictions are contributing to a widening humanitarian emergency.
AP reporting further highlights that Cuba’s most vulnerable citizens—particularly the elderly—are now bearing the brunt of an economic system under extreme strain, where shortages of food, medicine, and fuel have become routine rather than exceptional.
deVerteuil’s deployments across Colombia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Africa have placed him in environments where state collapse, insurgency, and post-conflict reconstruction intersect.
DeVerteuil’s work focuses on the practical realities of stabilizing failing states—integrating security architecture, infrastructure recovery, and economic restart strategies. As Cuba’s conditions increasingly resemble those of other fragile states he has studied and operated in, his perspective is uniquely relevant to what may come next.
CBS’s broader historical framing of U.S.–Cuba relations underscores a key question now emerging in policy circles: whether decades of pressure, isolation, and miscalculation are culminating in a moment that will require not just diplomacy, but large-scale reconstruction thinking.
DeVerteuil can address the critical “what happens next” scenario: whether Cuba stabilizes, fractures further, or becomes an unavoidable nation-building challenge for the region—and what a credible post-collapse framework would actually require.
Q&A
- What are the most likely short-term triggers that could push Cuba from crisis into full-state collapse?
- How does the current humanitarian situation among Cuba’s elderly reflect deeper structural failures in governance and economic planning?
- Given the long history of U.S.–Cuba relations, what role—if any—does Washington realistically play in Cuba’s future stabilization or reconstruction?
- At what point does prolonged economic decline in a country like Cuba shift from a policy problem to a nation-building requirement?
- From your experience in Colombia, Afghanistan, and Iraq, what early warning signs typically indicate a state is approaching irreversible breakdown?
- What are the biggest misconceptions policymakers have about rebuilding countries that have already suffered systemic collapse?
- If Cuba were to undergo a rapid political or economic transition, what are the first priorities for restoring basic stability and security?
- What does a realistic post-collapse recovery model look like for a nation with Cuba’s geographic position, population pressures, and resource constraints?
Relevant Article(s):
The US Is About To INVADE Cuba
The long history of America’s conflict with Cuba – CBS News
Elderly Cubans left to fend for themselves as the latest crisis deepens | AP News
President Trump says he has the ‘honor’ of ‘taking Cuba in some form’ | Fox News
ABOUT JOHN deVERTEUIL…
deVerteuil is a retired Green Beret Sergeant Major after 33 years of Service. He has been deployed to Colombia in the 1990’s, three tours to Afghanistan, ten tours to Iraq and Africa. He has been awarded 2 Bronze Stars for Valor and 6 Bronze Stars for Service. He also conducted a Military Free Fall mission in Iraq and has the Combat Infantryman’s Badge as well as the Combat Medic Badge.
John has a Masters in National Security and is the CEO of Nation Building Advisory Group. His company works with other companies and people to find various international business opportunities. His experiences in Nation Building in Colombia, Afghanistan, and Africa made a significant impact in his methodology of developing Security and Economic strategies for developing nations.
These experiences make him an excellent source of information on Venezuela and Cuba possible futures and concerns.
John deVerteuil was trained to conduct counter proliferation operations to include assaulting bunker networks that enemy states would utilize to house Weapons of Mass Destruction. During his time at USASOC-CAG he trained in Nuclear, Chemical, and biological counter measures to combat terrorism. He conducted a study on Anthrax to identify proper medical procedures for wounded personnel during a potential assault of a Biological Weaponization site assault.
John deVerteuil also wrote a book to solve the issues in the United States from Budget to redesigning the Department of War. His book is called We Are America: A voice from the silent majorityTO SCHDULE AN INTERVIEW, CALL OR TEXT 512-966-0983 OR EMAIL BOOKINGS@SPECIALGUESTS.COM
