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The Republican congressman Carlos Giménez made strong statements on Wednesday in support of the Trump administration's maximum pressure policy against the Cuban regime, and responded with irony to the words of Miguel Díaz-Canel, who days earlier claimed he was willing to die for the revolution.
In a television interview whose video he shared on his X account, Giménez reacted directly to the statements that Díaz-Canel made to NBC News, where the leader stated, "I am not afraid. I am willing to give my life for the revolution."
Giménez's response came swiftly: "I hope we give him the opportunity to die defending the revolution, because that revolution needs to disappear. They have destroyed the island, the island of my birth."
The congressman firmly defended Washington's strategy and used a culinary metaphor to describe it: "We need to keep applying maximum pressure and let it simmer for a while, let it stew, and see what happens."
Giménez, the only member of the United States Congress born in Cuba, made it clear what his ultimate goal is: "I want to see a free and democratic Cuba, friendly with the United States, so that we do not have this adversary 90 miles from our coast, this security threat 90 miles from our coast."
When asked about his mood during the interview, the congressman replied bluntly: "When I hear about dictators and my absolute hatred for them, I get fired up."
Along with the video, Giménez posted on X the message: "We are applying maximum pressure on the brutal regime in Cuba. The Cuban people are demanding, and we must do everything possible to support their struggle," accompanied by the hashtags #SOSCuba and #PatriaYVida.
The statements come at a time of heightened tension between Washington and Havana.
The Trump administration has imposed more than 240 new sanctions against Cuba since January 2026, through Executive Order 14380, which declares the Cuban regime an "extraordinary threat" to the national security of the United States due to its alliances with Russia, China, Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas.
Giménez has been one of the main advocates of this policy alongside Congress members Mario Díaz-Balart and María Elvira Salazar, who in February compared the current moment to the fall of the Berlin Wall and demanded zero tolerance against the regime.
The internal context of Cuba further exacerbates the situation. The collapse of the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric power plant on March 5 triggered power outages of over 20 hours daily affecting 68% of the island, leading to a massive wave of protests across multiple provinces under the slogan #SOSCuba.
In his interview with NBC News, Díaz-Canel rejected all the conditions imposed by Washington - the release of political prisoners, multi-party elections, free unions, and a free press - and in response to the question of whether he would resign to save Cuba, he replied irritably: Does that question come from you or from the State Department?
Giménez had already warned in January, after the capture of Nicolás Maduro, that the days of the Cuban regime are numbered, a stance he maintains with equal conviction in light of the escalating pressures and protests rocking the country.
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