U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has urged Cubans seeking political change to pursue a partnership with the Central Intelligence Agency, in an extraordinary public appeal that came within about an hour of President Donald Trump telling a Florida rally that the United States would "take care of Cuba" after dealing with Iran. The paired messages, delivered on Friday, mark the sharpest escalation yet in the Trump administration's year-long pressure campaign against Cuba's communist government.
Rubio's message, posted on X, was addressed directly to Cubans dissatisfied with their government. "To those who seek to create positive change in Cuba — now is the time," he wrote. "The disappointment of failed promises, corruption, and the privileged lives of only a few; seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discrete partnership with the CIA." The post offered no further detail on how Cubans should contact the agency or what such cooperation would involve, according to reports.
What Trump Said in Florida
Trump raised Cuba himself at a rally in Fort Myers, Florida, while touting what he described as U.S. military successes in Venezuela and Iran. When an audience member shouted, "What about Cuba?" the president answered with a scenario that drew applause from the crowd.
"Cuba. He wants to know what about Cuba. Give me a break. Give me a break," Trump said, according to Newsmax, which aired the rally. "Don't worry. We'll take care of Cuba on our way back from Iran. We'll do a little stopover."
Trump went on to describe U.S. warships passing the island on their return from the Middle East. "Those beautiful ships will pass Cuba. We'll have one of them stop about 50 yards off the coast," he said. "They'll raise up their hands, and then we're going to send Marco Rubio in to finish up." In a later telling of the remark, he added: "We don't even have to stop. We can just put him in there, and he'll figure it out. He is a great guy."
Rubio's post followed shortly afterward. Newsmax reported that it came about an hour after Trump's remarks; other outlets described the two statements as coming in quick succession. Rubio, whose parents emigrated from Cuba to the United States in 1956, has long taken a hard line toward Havana and has handled much of the administration's Cuba policy, according to Reuters.
A Year of Escalating Pressure
The appeal did not come out of nowhere. The Trump administration has steadily tightened pressure on Havana throughout 2026, and it has stated openly that its goal is to change Cuba's communist government.
In January, Trump signed an executive order authorizing tariffs against countries that sell oil to Cuba. The following month, the administration began an oil blockade on the island, deploying naval forces to block tankers heading to Cuba. The pressure intensified after the U.S. military seized then-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a deadly raid in January, an operation the administration has pointed to as a model of its approach in the region.
The blockade has put Cuba under severe strain, according to Reuters. The island has contended with fuel shortages and blackouts, worsened by failing infrastructure. United Nations rights experts have condemned the oil blockade as a violation of international law, while rights advocates have said the administration's threats echo an imperialist approach.
Washington has maintained an embargo on Cuba for more than 60 years, but the current campaign goes well beyond the long-standing sanctions regime. Earlier this year, Trump said he believed there could be a "friendly takeover" of the country's communist government, the Washington Examiner reported. Last month, however, he struck a different note, predicting that the United States and Cuba would reach an agreement and saying he did not think military action would be necessary. Cuba's foreign minister told the United Nations General Assembly last month that the country would always be open to dialogue with Washington.
Havana Pushes Back
Cuban officials responded to Rubio's appeal with open derision. Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio mocked the public recruitment pitch on X, writing: "Now the United States is resorting to public recruitment for the CIA… There must be a great deal of desperation or misery within the agency for it to be forced to sell its services like a tube of toothpaste."
It was not the first time Fernandez de Cossio had warned Washington off. Last month, he told the U.S. cable channel C-SPAN's Washington Journal program that it would be an "atrocious international crime" for the United States to use military force against Cuba, which he described as a peaceful neighboring country.
According to reports, the CIA later uploaded a video on X offering instructions in Spanish for people who believe they have information of interest to the intelligence agency, encouraging them to visit a U.S. embassy in person if they can safely travel to one.
A Familiar Playbook
Public recruitment appeals of this kind are not new for U.S. intelligence agencies, though they are rarely delivered by a secretary of state. The CIA has previously aimed recruitment messaging at possible dissidents in China and Russia, under both the Biden and Trump administrations, the Washington Examiner reported.
In 2024, the agency released a video advertisement in Russian aimed at boosting recruitment in Moscow. "Those around you may not want to hear the truth. But we do. You are not powerless," the video said, according to a Reuters translation. The FBI has also used social media under the Biden administration to disseminate intelligence recruiting messages in foreign adversarial countries.
What sets Rubio's message apart is its bluntness and timing. It was issued by America's top diplomat, in the middle of a midterm campaign, hours after the president publicly sketched a scenario in which a U.S. warship stops off the Cuban coast and Rubio himself is sent in to "finish up the deal."
What This Means
The episode lays bare how central Cuba has become to the administration's foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere — and how closely that policy is tied to domestic politics. The Fort Myers rally was a midterm campaign event, held 11 days before the November 3 elections, and the administration has made its confrontational posture toward Havana, Caracas, and Tehran a core part of its pitch to voters.
It also exposes the administration's reliance on pressure tactics that stop short of — but gesture toward — military force. The oil blockade has already squeezed ordinary Cubans, according to reports of fuel shortages and blackouts, and the public CIA appeal adds a psychological dimension to the campaign: an invitation to Cubans themselves to help bring about change from within.
For Havana, the message is dual. On one hand, the administration continues to hold out the possibility of a negotiated agreement, as Trump suggested last month. On the other, the president is now publicly musing about warships off the coast and his secretary of state is openly recruiting partners inside the country. Cuban officials have answered defiance with defiance, and there is no sign in the reporting that Havana is preparing to bend.
What Happens Next
Several questions will determine whether Friday's messages amount to more than campaign rhetoric. The first is whether the administration follows up with concrete steps — further sanctions, a tighter blockade, or new diplomatic moves — or whether the rhetoric cools after the midterms, as some of Trump's earlier Cuba statements have.
The second is how Cubans themselves respond. The administration's bet appears to be that economic hardship, compounded by the blockade, will widen discontent inside the island. Havana's bet is that outside pressure will rally Cubans around the government instead. The mocking response from Fernandez de Cossio suggests the government intends to frame the CIA appeal as desperation, not strength.
The third is what happens with Iran, the conflict Trump linked directly to Cuba's fate. Trump said Cuba would be dealt with "on our way back from Iran," tying the island's future to the outcome of a war that is itself driving up energy prices and shaping voter sentiment at home. If that conflict drags on, Cuba may remain a talking point rather than a theater of action. If it ends quickly, Friday's remarks may be remembered as the moment Washington's Cuba endgame moved into the open.
Post a Comment