The Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned this Friday that Washington will leave the Cuban regime with no way out in the face of the economic pressure from the Trump administration. "There is no escape," he cautioned.
His statements were made in an exclusive interview granted to Axios regarding the pressure campaign against the Cuban government. "What we are trying to teach them is that there are no escape valves," Rubio declared.
The central theme of the Secretary of State's message is that Havana is attempting to buy time: it simulates reforms and seeks strategies to circumvent sanctions, but Washington shuts them down as soon as they emerge.
"Every time they create a new mechanism to try to escape the noose, we simply tighten it," Rubio asserted. "Of course, they can't expect us to give up. This is not going to disappear in the next two and a half years."
Since 2025, the Trump administration has carried out various actions against Cuba. The sanctions have impacted 40 entities —from foreign companies operating on the island to state-owned conglomerates in fuel, banking, and mining— and at least 38 individuals, with economic measures, visa restrictions, and revocations of residency.
On Thursday, Rubio announced new sanctions against five Cuban entities and eight officials for military cooperation with Russia and China.
However, the Cuban-American asserts that the hardest blow to the regime did not come from direct sanctions, but rather from the capture of Nicolás Maduro, which halted the Venezuelan supply of up to 100,000 barrels of oil per day to Cuba.
"For the first time in the history of Cuba, the island lacks two things it has always relied on: an external sponsor and the lack of attention from the U.S. as a top priority," the Secretary of State noted.
U.S. fuel exports to Cuba reached 96 million dollars in the first half of 2026, with over half concentrated in June, according to the US-Cuba Trade and Economic Council.
His president, John Kavulich, was emphatic in statements to Axios: "Trump and Rubio have initiated the most effective sanctions program against a target country than any of their predecessors. We've been at it since 1994 and have never seen anything like this."
Last week, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz stated before the National Assembly of People's Power that the economic reforms in Cuba do not mean abandoning socialism despite the introduction of capitalist measures.
Rubio agreed with Marrero that the regime's strategy does not imply a genuine change. He made it clear that, for him, it is just another delaying tactic to feign reforms and relieve international pressure, while the regime seeks new ways to evade sanctions. He stated that the United States will continue to monitor the situation and is in no rush to act.
"One of the things we have lost in U.S. foreign policy and geopolitics is the concept of patience and perseverance. (...) My level of confidence is that when this administration ends, at the very least, Cuba will be on an irreversible path toward a different future," Rubio concluded.
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