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The Republican Senator Rick Scott endorsed the statements made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio about Cuba on Wednesday, asserting that under President Trump's leadership, there is a "real hope for a new day of freedom and prosperity" for the island.
In a message posted on the social media platform X, Scott was direct: “If we want REAL reform in Cuba, the illegitimate Castro/Díaz-Canel regime must fall. They deserve to be in PRISON for their atrocious crimes.” The senator from Florida specifically cited a statement from the State Department in which Rubio described the Cuban rulers as "economically incompetent."
Scott's words come a day after Rubio suggested in an exclusive interview with Fox News that Cuba has only two possible futures: total collapse or a deep economic transformation that, under the current regime, he deems unfeasible.
"Cuba is, at this moment, a failed state. In reality, it does not have a real economy, which is why its population lives in extreme misery and does not enjoy political freedoms," said Rubio, who attributed the deterioration to Marxism and a leadership that "only cares about control."
The Secretary of State also warned that Washington will not tolerate foreign armies or intelligence apparatuses operating "with impunity 90 miles off the shores of the U.S.", referring to the Chinese signal intelligence facilities documented on the island, whose expansion was denounced by Rubio to the public.
Scott's message comes at a time of intense legislative activity regarding Cuba. On Tuesday, the Senate rejected 51-47 a Democratic resolution that invoked the War Powers Act to limit Trump's authority to take military action against the island. The initiative failed despite two Republican senators—Susan Collins and Rand Paul—voting with the Democrats, while Democrat John Fetterman again sided with the Republicans.
Scott described that maneuver as a "waste of time" and an "insult" to the Cuban people, and he recalled that "this president has never said he wants troops on the ground in Cuba."
The senator has spent months advocating for a position of maximum pressure. On Monday, he participated in the prayer event "United for Cuba" at Bayfront Park, Miami, where he demanded the imprisonment of Díaz-Canel and Raúl Castro, and in April he sent a letter to Trump asking to intensify sanctions against GAESA, the military conglomerate that controls more than 18 billion dollars in assets.
Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar also joined the chorus of voices with a message that summarizes the block's position: "Without political change, there will be no economic change in Cuba."
The mention in Scott's message on X of "Patria y Vida" — the anthem of the protests on July 11, 2021 — reinforces the symbolic connection with the Cuban resistance movement and the exile community in Miami, a key audience for the senator from Florida.
Rubio had anticipated the tone of this diplomatic offensive on April 1, when he expressed his hope that "Cuba would soon fall" and announced "upcoming changes" in Washington's policy toward the island.
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