Related videos:
The Republican congresswoman María Elvira Salazar expressed her support on Tuesday for the maximum pressure policy of the Trump administration towards Cuba and declared that there is "a real hope for a free Cuba," in a message published on X following the strong statements made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio from the podium of the White House.
Salazar, representative of district 27 in Florida and daughter of Cuban exiles, wrote: "From Miami to the global stage, Rubio is helping to lead a new path for Latin America and a real hope for a free Cuba."
The congresswoman added that she stands alongside Rubio and President Donald Trump "in the fight for freedom and democracy in Cuba."
Salazar's message was a direct response to the statements made by Rubio that same day, in which he debunked the narrative of the Cuban regime regarding an alleged U.S. oil embargo.
"For decades, the Cuban regime screamed 'blockade' while living off Venezuelan oil and taking it away from its own people to sustain a broken system," Salazar wrote.
"Now that the money is gone, the mask has fallen," he emphasized.
Rubio was equally direct in his press conference: "There is no oil blockade against Cuba as such. Cuba used to receive free oil from Venezuela."
"They took about 60% of that oil and resold it for money. It didn't even benefit the people."
The Secretary of State described the regime as a "failed state" and its leaders as "incompetent communists," concluding with a clear warning: "Their economic model doesn't work. Things are going to change."
On that same day, Trump stated in an interview that he obtained "94% of the Cuban vote" and that he has "an obligation to do something for Cuba," and he once again mentioned the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier off the coast of the island as a pressure element.
Salazar's support comes at a time of unprecedented pressure from Washington on Havana in decades. Since January 2025, the administration has imposed over 240 sanctions against the regime and intercepted at least seven oil tankers.
On May 1st, Trump signed a new executive order that expands sanctions in the energy, defense, mining, and finance sectors, including secondary sanctions on foreign banks that conduct business with sanctioned Cuban entities.
The collapse of Venezuelan oil supply —following the capture of Nicolás Maduro in January 2026— left Cuba without its main source of subsidized energy.
The Russian oil that arrived as an alternative barely covers 10% of the island's energy needs, which translates to power outages of up to 25 hours daily in more than 55% of the territory.
The regime responds with confrontational rhetoric. On May 3, Díaz-Canel invoked the doctrine of the "War of All the People" in front of delegates from 36 countries and declared that "every Cuban man and woman has a rifle."
Salazar, who in April had already described the regime as being "on life support" and claimed that Trump just needs to "disconnect it," concluded his message with a statement that captures the sentiment of the Cuban community in exile: "Cuba will be free."
Filed under: