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The Republican senator Lindsey Graham posted this Friday on his official X account that "the liberation of the wonderful people of Cuba from the clutches of communism is very near," ending his message with the historic slogan "Cuba Libre."
The message comes a day after Secretary of State Marco Rubio described Cuba as a "failed state" and a threat to the national security of the United States, marking the strongest statement from a senior Trump administration official regarding the situation on the island.
Graham's tweet is not an isolated incident. Since January, the senator from South Carolina has been waging a sustained campaign of verbal pressure against the Cuban regime.
On January 11, he directly warned the regime: "My advice to the communists ruling Cuba and oppressing their people: call Maduro and ask him what to do... If I were you, I would be looking for a new place to live."
On March 8, Graham appeared on Fox News wearing a "Cuba libre" hat and stated: "This communist dictatorship in Cuba is running out of time." In April, he directly urged Cubans to oust the communists and join Trump.
The senator's statements come at a time of the regime's greatest fragility in decades.
Between May 13 and 17, protests were reported in at least 12 municipalities of Havana, described as the largest in the capital since July 11, 2021, with slogans such as "Power and food!" and "Down with the dictatorship!".
The Cuban electrical system recorded a historic deficit of 2,153 MW on May 13, with blackouts lasting up to 22 hours a day in Havana. The Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, acknowledged that there was "absolutely nothing" left in terms of diesel or fuel oil on the island.
In parallel, the Trump administration imposed more than 240 new sanctions against Cuba since January. On May 1, Trump signed Executive Order 14404, which expanded secondary sanctions to foreign banks linked to the regime. On May 19, Rubio announced sanctions against 11 regime elites and three government organizations: the Intelligence Directorate, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Revolutionary National Police.
Adding to this is the capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces, which dismantled the main axis of political, financial, and energy support for the Cuban government, worsening a crisis that was already structural.
In January, Graham had summarized his vision with a statement that resonates even more strongly today: “Cuba is a communist dictatorship that has murdered priests and nuns, that has preyed upon its own people. Their days are numbered. One day we will wake up—I hope in 2026—and in our own neighborhood, we will have allies in those countries, doing business with the United States.”
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