Marco Rubio announced this Tuesday, during a press conference at the White House, that he wants to speak with Pope Leo XIV about increasing humanitarian aid to Cuba, provided it is distributed through the Catholic Church and that the regime of Miguel Díaz-Canel allows it.
The Secretary of State explained that his trip to the Vatican, which begins this Thursday, will serve to discuss the possibility of expanding cooperation with the Church to channel assistance to the island.
Rubio recalled that in February the White House had already sent 6 million dollars in humanitarian aid to Cuba, distributed through Cáritas Cuba and the parish network of the Church, bypassing the regime.
However, he stressed that Washington is willing to go further if Havana continues to block operations: "We are ready to provide more humanitarian aid to Cuba, but the Cuban regime must allow us to do so."
"They won't allow us to provide more humanitarian aid to their own people, and we are willing to do so through the Church," insisted the head of U.S. diplomacy.
In the same press conference, Rubio delivered a strong message against the Cuban regime, describing it as a "failed state" run by "incompetent communists" who "do not know how to fix it."
The agenda with the Holy See will also include the defense of religious freedom at a global level, a topic on which Rubio highlighted common ground with the Vatican: "We have shared concerns about religious freedom, and we would like to discuss this with them."
The Secretary of State mentioned the recent trip of León XIV to West Africa, where the pontiff addressed the issue of religious freedom as an example of the shared interests between Washington and the Holy See.
Rubio also denied that the trip is an attempt to "smooth things over" following the public tensions between President Donald Trump and the Pope, clarifying that the visit had been scheduled in advance.
The meeting with León XIV is scheduled for Thursday, May 7th, at the Apostolic Palace, according to the State Department regarding Rubio's trip to Italy and the Vatican.
The visit comes in a context of intense U.S. pressure on Cuba: since January, the U.S. has imposed an oil embargo that has led to blackouts of up to 25 hours a day and a GDP contraction of 7.2%.
Direct negotiations between Washington and Havana failed in April after Cuba rejected the ultimatum to release high-profile political prisoners such as Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Osorbo, with the deadline expiring on April 24 without an agreement.
Rubio also downplayed the controversy generated by a photograph in which he appears alongside General Francis L. Donovan, chief of Southern Command, in front of a map of Cuba, an image that some interpreted as a sign of a possible imminent military offensive against the island.
The Vatican has a proven track record as a mediator between Washington and Havana: Pope Francis was instrumental in the rapprochement between Obama and Raúl Castro in 2014, facilitating secret channels that culminated in the restoration of diplomatic relations on December 17 of that year.
León XIV, the first American pontiff in history, visited Cuba on two occasions as the superior general of the Augustinian order, which gives him direct insight into the reality of the island and a potential role as an interlocutor in any process of change.
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