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The Secretary of State Marco Rubio took advantage of the anniversary of the Independence Day of Cuba, celebrated this Wednesday, to record a video in which he directly addresses the Cuban people in a message in Spanish, holding the communist leadership responsible for the "unimaginable hardships" that the island is suffering.
The scoop, provided by the American outlet Axios, indicates that this is the first time Rubio has addressed the Cuban population directly in his capacity as Secretary of State and in Spanish, which serves as a central piece of the Trump administration's multidimensional pressure campaign against Havana.
"The real reason they have no electricity, fuel, or food is that those who control their country have plundered billions of dollars, but none of it has been used to help the people," Rubio stated in the speech.
The message focuses on GAESA (Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A.), the military-business conglomerate founded by Raúl Castro, with estimated assets of $18 billion and which controls approximately 70% of the Cuban economy through hotels, banks, stores, and the flow of remittances.
"Cuba is not controlled by any 'revolution'. Cuba is controlled by GAESA", Rubio stated, contrasting the wealth of the elites that run this conglomerate with the misery of the average Cuban.
"The only role played by the so-called 'government' is to demand that they continue making 'sacrifices' and to suppress anyone who dares to complain," he added.
The speech comes at a time when Cuba is experiencing its worst energy and economic crisis in decades: in some areas, electricity is available only two hours a day, fuel is scarce, and the Cuban Energy Minister acknowledged that the country has run out of oil and diesel.
This Wednesday, the Department of Justice is expected to announce the formal charges against Raúl Castro for having ordered the downing of two planes belonging to the organization Brothers to the Rescue on February 24, 1996, resulting in the deaths of four individuals in international waters.
The accusation was originally driven by Rubio and other Cuban Americans from Miami in 2018, during Trump's first term, and its formal presentation today indicates that negotiations with the regime for a peaceful transition are not making significant progress.
Officials from the State Department and the director of the CIA, John Ratcliffe, have traveled to Cuba and met with regime leaders, including Raulito Castro, the grandson of Raúl, who also met with Rubio.
The pressure is framed within the Executive Order 14404 signed by Trump, which expanded the sanctions regime against Cuba and introduced the risk of secondary sanctions for non-U.S. entities that engage with blocked individuals.
Rubio offered the Cuban people —not GAESA— a "new relationship" with the United States, including 100 million dollars in food and medicine, conditioned on being distributed by the Catholic Church or other trusted organizations.
The Secretary of State also recalled that on May 20, 1902, the Republic of Cuba was proclaimed, a date that the regime of Fidel Castro removed from the official calendar after the revolution of 1959.
"Today, from the media to entertainment, from the private sector to politics, and from music to sports, Cubans have reached the top of virtually ALL industries in every country except one... Cuba," Rubio noted.
"This is not impossible. All of this exists in the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and even just 90 miles away, in Florida. If having your own business and the right to vote is possible around Cuba, why is it not possible for you in Cuba?" Rubio concluded, anticipating that more accusations against Cuban officials and new announcements of sanctions are expected in the coming days.
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