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The Democratic senator from Arizona Rubén Gallego stated in Madrid that the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, "has an obsession with the island of Cuba" and that the Trump Administration is determined to change the Cuban government.
The statements were made last week during a meeting with several media outlets at the Royal Elcano Institute of International and Strategic Studies in Madrid, where Gallego spoke in Spanish about Cuba and in English about Venezuela.
"There will be an attempt to change the Government of Cuba, it could be through the Army or in another way," said the senator, of Mexican-Colombian origin.
Gallego argued that Cuba poses no threat to the United States, describing it as "a very poor island of nine million people." However, he stated that both Rubio and Cuban Americans have a decisive influence in the current government of Donald Trump.
The senator also noted that almost 99% of Democrats oppose any military intervention on the island. Nevertheless, he reiterated: "I believe that this president, and the Cuban Americans, will indeed try to overthrow the government of Cuba."
The statements come amidst a backdrop of increasing tension between Washington and Havana.
In March 2026, Gallego was one of the proponents, along with Senators Tim Kaine and Adam Schiff, of the Joint Resolution S.J.Res. 124, which sought to invoke the War Powers Act of 1973 to prevent military actions against Cuba without Congressional authorization.
The initiative was blocked in the Senate by a vote of 51 to 47, which left the Executive with greater maneuverability regarding Havana.
Gallego also described an Axios report on drones in Cuba as "propaganda to build a case for an invasion of Cuba," referring to reports that circulated in May about the possibility of a U.S. military action.
According to sources cited by Axios, Trump believes that the Cuban regime could collapse this year, although the Pentagon dismissed the idea of "any planned or imminent invasion," while clarifying that "everything is on the table."
For his part, Rubio has maintained a policy of maximum pressure on Cuba since his arrival at the Department of State.
In May, following the implementation of Trump's executive order 14404, which sanctions the regime and its elites, Rubio announced additional direct sanctions against GAESA, the military conglomerate that controls a large portion of the Cuban economy.
In the same meeting in Madrid, Gallego also addressed the operation of January 2026 in Venezuela, which he described as a "tactical success" but a "political failure" because, according to him, it replaced "one dictator with another."
The senator also defended the right of Spain and other NATO allies to differ from Washington, arguing that the Alliance "is not a suicide pact, it is a defensive pact."
The background of Gallego's statements is Trump's public stance, who declared in May that "I can fix Cuba if the regime changes," a phrase that encapsulates the maximum pressure strategy that Rubio has advocated from the State Department.
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