Two opposing views on Cuba coexist within the Trump administration, and the Cuban-American historian and businessman Omar Sixto summarized them with an image that has sparked much discussion: the president has “two ears,” and one hears from Marco Rubio while the other hears from JD Vance. The metaphor, presented in an interview with El País on July 13, 2026, triggered the debate in the latest discussion in CiberCuba regarding the transition on the Island.
Sixto and the other two panelists, Alejandro González Acosta and Jorge L. León, agreed that "since the beginning of this second Administration, there has been a dichotomy within the government, which evidently gets along well on the outside." The difference between Rubio and Vance is not just stylistic: it defines what specific policy Washington applies towards Havana.
Rubio, born in South Miami to Cuban parents, embodies the line of maximum pressure. Panelists describe him as someone who "knows a lot, a great deal about international politics and foreign relations" and who has firsthand knowledge of "the malignant role that dictatorship has played for 67 years," shaped during his years in Congress debating foreign policy.
As Secretary of State, he has implemented more than 240 sanctions against the Cuban regime since January 2026, including GAESA, CUPET, Miguel Díaz-Canel, Lis Cuesta Peraza, and Alejandro Castro Espín.
On the other hand, Vice President JD Vance represents the opposite side. A native of West Virginia and a military veteran, he embodies, according to Sixto's analysis in the discussion, "the strongest American part of MAGA." His electoral base is "the worker who lost a factory because it was moved to Mexico," a profile that historically does not prioritize international issues. This difference in approach has direct consequences: on June 18, 2026, Vance confirmed that the administration is maintaining active discussions with the Cuban regime and stated that "if they make smart decisions, we will have a much better relationship with that island."
According to the panelists, during a dinner with business leaders held in late 2025, Trump was asked which of the two was better and "said different things" about each, without clearly favoring either. This ambiguity fuels uncertainty about the path Washington will take with Cuba before the midterm elections in November 2026.
The debate also has a political future dimension: Rubio and Vance are competing for the 2028 horizon, which adds an electoral consideration to their strategic differences regarding the island.
The discussion moderated by journalist Tania Costa concludes with a statement rich in symbolism. One of the panelists expressed his hope that when Rubio speaks to Trump, he does so "through the right ear, which was nearly blown off by a bullet," directly referring to the attack on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a bullet grazed the right ear of the then Republican candidate. The intention of the metaphor is for Trump to remember "that the enemy does not rest and that the enemy is willing to do anything. And Cuba is the enemy."
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