The U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, identified this Wednesday from Manila, Philippines —where he is participating in the ASEAN ministerial summit— the two factors he considers central to the Cuban collapse: a and the disappearance of the free supply of Venezuelan oil.
The statements, released by the State Department on their social media, were made during a press conference held alongside the regional diplomatic agenda, when journalists asked about the expectations for change on the island.
"The fundamental problem that Cuba is facing right now involves two main issues. The first is that its economic system does not work, because this economic system does not exist anywhere else in the world. It is completely the opposite. It simply does not function. And that is why people have to leave the country. The second issue is that they no longer receive free oil from Venezuela,” stated Rubio.
The secretary also revealed a detail that exposes the regime's logic: approximately 60% of the crude oil that Cuba received for free from Venezuela was not allocated to the country's electrical grid, but was instead resold in international markets for foreign currency.
"The biggest problem in Cuba is that its regime is a disaster, its economic model does not work, and the people who run the country do not know what they are doing. All they care about is clinging to power," he stated.
Rubio labeled Cuba a "failed state" twice during the same speech, adding that the regime deliberately fears economic prosperity: "They are afraid that economic freedoms will cause them to lose control over the people."
In response to questions about the timeline for a change of regime, Rubio dismissed any schedule: "Global issues are not a miniseries where everything is resolved in three episodes."
And he added that Cuba has lost between 10% and 15% of its population since 2021 due to the poor management of the regime.
In parallel to his diagnosis, the secretary reiterated that he has begun the dispatch of over 100 million dollars in humanitarian aid to the island, distributed exclusively by non-governmental entities —Catholic Relief Services, Cáritas Cuba, and the Catholic Church— without the involvement of the Cuban government.
"The goal is to have a Cuba where the Cuban people can experience prosperity, security, and a better life," Rubio concluded, adding, "The people in charge there right now simply don't want to do it. It's a shame."
The statements from Manila come just a few days after the State Department published the report “Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism,” a document of about 100 pages that accuses the regime of having sponsored radical leftism in the U.S. for more than six decades and documents 18 signals intelligence facilities on the island, including two operated by Russia.
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