The U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio repeated his characteristic condemnation of the Cuban regime this Wednesday during a cabinet meeting at the White House chaired by Donald Trump, who requested an update on the situation on the island.
"Cuba is in serious trouble because, unfortunately for them, it is governed by a group of incompetent communists," Rubio declared before the entire cabinet.
The meeting was held in the context of tensions with Iran and the search for a possible nuclear deal, but Trump took the opportunity to ask his Secretary of State for a report on Cuba.
Rubio did not hold back on his remarks: "Being a communist is bad. Being an incompetent communist is the worst."
The head of U.S. diplomacy pointed directly to GAESA —the business conglomerate controlled by the Cuban Armed Forces— as the main structural problem of the island.
"The country has been taken over by a company that controls 70% of the economy. None of that money is allocated to help the Cuban people, absolutely nothing," he stated.
Despite the critical tone, Rubio also opened the door to dialogue: “We will talk to them, we will work on this; we want something good for the Cuban people and, hopefully, there will be a good outcome for them. There has to be.”
The Secretary of State also emphasized the geopolitical dimension of the issue: "Having a failed state 90 miles from our shores poses a threat to the national security of the United States."
This is not the first time Rubio has resorted to this rhetoric. He used the same expressions on May 5 and on May 21, and also on March 27 he rhetorically asked: "Who is going to invest billions of dollars in a communist country led by incompetent communists?"
The pressure has not been limited to words. On May 7th, the State Department announced sanctions against GAESA and its president, Brigadier General Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, as well as against the mining company Moa Nickel S.A., setting June 5th as the deadline for foreign companies to cease operations with the conglomerate or face secondary sanctions.
Trump himself took on an even more aggressive tone in March by stating that it would be an "honor" to liberate Cuba: "Whether I liberate it or take it, I believe I can do whatever I want with it. They are a very weakened nation."
The deadline that Washington imposed on foreign companies linked to GAESA expires in just over a week, making the upcoming days a crucial time to assess the actual extent of U.S. pressure on Havana.
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