The Secretary of State Marco Rubio ignored a direct question about Cuba posed by journalist Leonardo Feldman, White House correspondent for Newsweek, during an appearance at the Department of State yesterday.
Feldman asked Rubio if there were any updates regarding Cuba, given that President Donald Trump has frequently repeated the phrase "Cuba is next." The secretary did not respond.
"Today at the State Department, I asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio if there was any update on Cuba, as President Trump has often said that 'Cuba is next.' But what exactly that means is unclear. He ignored the question," Feldman wrote on his X account.
The silence from Rubio occurred on the same day that the two-week deadline imposed by Washington on the Cuban regime for the release of high-profile political prisoners, including artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and rapper Maykel Osorbo, expired. Havana did not meet the demand.
One day prior, the regime formally rejected the ultimatum. The Cuban ambassador to the UN, Ernesto Soberón Guzmán, denied the existence of such an ultimatum and conditioned any progress on the mutual respect for internal matters.
Díaz-Canel, for his part, described the conversations with the United States as "respectful and professional" and in a "very preliminary phase," dismissed negotiating political changes, sovereignty, or the release of prisoners.
The negotiation process between both countries is experiencing its highest level of tension since the Obama-Castro thaw of 2014-2016.
The Trump administration relaunched a policy of maximum pressure in January 2026, when it signed Executive Order 14380, which declares the Cuban regime a "unique and extraordinary threat" to the national security of the United States and imposes tariffs on countries that supply oil to the island.
Rubio has held at least half a dozen meetings with Cuban representatives, including Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, grandson of Raúl Castro, while avoiding the official channels of the Communist Party.
On April 10, a delegation from the State Department landed in Havana on the first U.S. government flight since 2016, to negotiate directly with Cuban deputy ministers and with GAESA, the military conglomerate that controls between 40% and 70% of the island's economy.
In early April, Rubio promised exciting updates about Cuba in an interview with Fox News. So far, no public announcement has materialized.
The State Department warned yesterday that the Cuban regime has a small window to strike a deal, marking the latest sign that negotiations are at a critical and uncertain juncture.
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