Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared on Wednesday that Washington's goal is not to provoke an economic collapse or to apply a military option in Cuba, but to achieve "a Cuba where the Cuban people can experience prosperity, security, and a better life", according to statements released by the Department of State.
Rubio was straightforward in assessing the situation on the island: "It is a failed state. It is a failed state," he repeated, holding the regime in Havana accountable for the country's decline and dismissing any willingness for change from its leaders.
The secretary identified two main causes of the Cuban crisis: an economic model that, in his words, "does not work anywhere else in the world," and the loss of free Venezuelan oil following the capture of Nicolás Maduro in January 2026.
Regarding that subsidized crude oil, Rubio revealed a fact that illustrates the regime's logic: "They took about 60% of the free oil they received from Venezuela and resold it for cash," instead of allocating it to the country's electrical grid.
"The biggest problem in Cuba is that its regime is a disaster, its economic model doesn't work, and the people in charge of the country don't know what they're doing," Rubio stated, adding that Cuban leaders "fear economic prosperity because they know that with economic freedoms, they will lose control over the population."
The secretary also noted that Cuba has lost between 10% and 15% of its population since 2021 as a direct consequence of the regime's mismanagement, referring to the mass exodus that has emptied the island in recent years.
In parallel to that announcement, Rubio stated that this Wednesday he began sending more than 100 million dollars in humanitarian aid to Cuba, distributed exclusively by non-governmental organizations, without the involvement of the Cuban government.
The first shipment - 18 tons of food and hygiene supplies - had left Miami on Tuesday, channeled through Catholic Relief Services and Caritas Cuba as the distribution channel. The scheme divides the funds into 60 million for the Catholic Church and 40 million for independent organizations.
Rubio emphasized that Cuba poses a direct threat to U.S. national security due to its "90 miles from our shores" proximity and the alliances the regime has maintained with hostile powers over the decades.
When asked about timelines for political change on the island, the secretary refused to set dates: "Global issues are not a miniseries where everything gets resolved in three episodes." However, he made his position clear: "I wish it were tomorrow, because the Cuban people deserve it. The people in charge there right now simply do not want to do it. It's a shame."
Rubio's statements come in the context of a maximum pressure strategy against the military conglomerate GAESA, which controls between 40% and 70% of the formal Cuban economy, with expanded sanctions in May and June 2026 under Executive Order 14404 signed by President Trump.
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