The U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has recently criticized Fidel Castro and suggested that the dictator's admirers rethink any attempts to follow his example.
In a strong message posted on his personal account on X, Rubio reminded that the elder Castro destroyed Cuba and impoverished its people.
“Fidel Castro was a complete failure in everything except in destroying Cuba and impoverishing, imprisoning, and killing his own people,” he wrote.
In addition to condemning Fidel Castro's legacy, the head of U.S. diplomacy issued a warning to those who still admire the dictator.
“I strongly suggest that anyone tempted to try to follow his example should carefully reconsider, because if they do, they would be condemning themselves to failure as well,” the Secretary of State added, framing the message as a mere “suggestion.”
An implicit response to Delcy Rodríguez?
This Thursday, August 13, the acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, published a passionate tribute to Castro on X, describing him as "an integral leader who has served as a reference for the free peoples of the world" and highlighting "his firm commitment to dignity, social justice, sovereignty, and international solidarity."
Rodríguez also stated that Castro “is one of the leaders who transcend time” and remain in the collective memory.
In the comments section of that post, numerous internet users tagged Marco Rubio to bring to his attention the opinion of the interim president of Venezuela.
Tributes to the dictator while Cuba sinks
In recent hours, several leaders have joined in the praise and tributes.
The Russian Vladimir Putin described Castro as a "symbol of freedom, justice, and patriotism."
The Brazilian Lula da Silva stated that if he was "for the third time at the helm of the Presidency of Brazil," it was "thanks to the encouragement and wisdom of Fidel Castro."
Nicaragua, for its part, installed a 20-meter sculpture of Castro as part of the celebrations.
All of this is happening while Cuba is experiencing power outages of more than twenty hours a day, shortages of food and medicine, and a projected GDP contraction between 6.5% and 7.2% for 2026, according to estimates from CEPAL and The Economist Intelligence Unit.
The Cuban regime declared 2026 as the "Year of the Centennial of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz" and organized the I International Colloquium "Fidel: Legacy and Future," held from August 10 to 13 in Havana, with over 1,500 delegates from 63 countries.
A stance that has not changed in a decade
The harshness of Marco Rubio's message is not new.
In November 2016, when Castro died and Rubio was still a senator from Florida, he declared that the death of the dictator did not signify "freedom for Cubans or justice for opponents and democratic activists."
Son of Cuban immigrants who left the island in 1956, Marco Rubio has described the regime as a "failed state" that has plunged Cubans into misery.
Now, from the Secretary of State's office, Rubio has intensified that stance through sanctions and diplomatic pressure against the Cuban regime.
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