The United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, sent a direct message to the Cuban regime this Wednesday from New York, where he is participating in the 81st General Assembly of the UN.
Rubio assured that the Cuban government has "an opportunity to start putting its country on an irreversible path towards progress and a better future," but that requires political and economic freedom.
He was categorical in diagnosing the historical failure of the Cuban system. "The Cuban Revolution has failed. It has failed for more than sixty years. It is a failure now. I believe there is an acknowledgment within the Cuban system itself that the revolution has failed."
The head of U.S. diplomacy acknowledged that Cuba's economic transformation will not be quick or easy.
"No more than sixty years of mismanagement, corruption, and incompetence can be reversed in six months," he warned, although he emphasized that Washington will remain "committed" to that process and is " open to measures that initiate that change."
In economic terms, Rubio explained why no company—neither American nor foreign—is willing to invest in Cuba under the current conditions.
The Helms-Burton Act, codified into statute by Congress, imposes specific restrictions on U.S. investment and requires that certain conditions be met before any commercial interaction can take place. However, beyond this law, Rubio pointed out that the underlying issue is the lack of legal certainty for any investor worldwide.
"Why would I invest ten million dollars in Cuba if two years later they decide on their own to change the rules, keep the money, and never return it to me? And this has happened time and again in Cuba," he stated.
His conclusion was clear: "No one is going to invest in Cuba under its current governance model. They simply will not do it."
Rubio also dismissed the notion that the reforms recently announced by the regime provide any real guarantees.
“There is no legitimacy or credibility that this regime will meet these conditions, because it has never done so before,” he stated. The Secretary of State added that what Cuba needs is “a governance model that gives the private sector the confidence that if they invest, they will recover their money with profits.”
Rubio highlighted the potential of the Cuban diaspora, both in the United States and in other parts of the world, to contribute to a future Cuba with a free and open economy, as well as the role that companies from third countries could play in that scenario.
The statements, collected by the State Department on their social media platforms, come a day after President Donald Trump labeled Cuba as an "absolutely failed state" before the General Assembly and predicted that the regime would "fall," which prompted the Cuban delegation to leave the room in protest.
The Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla responded to Trump's remarks, calling them “falsehoods and slanders”, and denied that there were any formal negotiations between Washington and Havana.
This exchange is part of a maximum pressure campaign that the Trump administration has maintained throughout 2026, with sanctions against more than 40 entities and at least 38 individuals linked to the Cuban military, energy, and financial apparatus.
Rubio's stance shifts the responsibility of taking the first step onto the regime: "We will remain committed. We are open to measures that initiate that process of change, and it will be a process that will not be easy."
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