The message from Secretary of State Marco Rubio publicly inviting Cubans to establish a "discreet partnership with the CIA" to promote change on the island sparked a wave of skepticism on social media.
Among the critical messages, several users drew a troubling parallel with the promises made by the Trump administration to the Iranian people months ago, promises that resulted in thousands of deaths, executions, imprisonments, and the regime of the ayatollahs remaining intact.
Last Thursday, Rubio posted on his official X account: «To those seeking to create positive change in Cuba: now is the time. The disappointment from broken promises, corruption, and the privileged lives of a select few; take this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discreet partnership with the CIA».
One of the most talked-about responses came from the user @BanditTradez, who directly asked the Secretary of State: «Where have I heard this before? Oh yes, the poor Persian people. How did that turn out for them? I think they're still waiting».
Along with the comment, he attached a post from Trump in which the president had written to the Iranians in January of this year: "Iranian patriots, KEEP PROTESTING! [...] HELP IS ON THE WAY. MIG!"
Trump's call to Iranian protesters —accompanied by the slogan "Make Iran Great Again"— came as the protests that began in late December 2025 were shaking the country.
The outcome was devastating: according to the human rights organization HRANA, by January 14, 2026, at least 2,571 people had died, including 12 minors, and nearly 16,784 had been detained. The clerical regime showed no cracks in its security forces, and Trump never clarified what exactly "help is on the way" meant.
The parallelism did not go unnoticed among Cubans. Reactions on social media combined frustration, irony, and distrust: "What season is this?", "After Iran, that is, never," "The story of the good pipe," and "blah, blah, blah" were some of the phrases that circulated among Cuban users in response to Washington's new call.
This skepticism has concrete roots. Since May 2026, Trump has mentioned on several occasions the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier off the Cuban coast — first at 100 yards, then at 50 — in July he promised that "many things" would happen in Cuba in about two months, and in September he repeated the threat of military ships during the "Shield of the Americas" summit in New York. None of these statements resulted in verifiable action.
The Cuban regime responded with institutional mockery. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla warned that the Cuban shores have "dog teeth," while Deputy Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío ridiculed Rubio's call by comparing it to a toothpaste advertisement.
The pattern indicated by @BanditTradez—declarative promises of support for peoples living under dictatorships, without follow-up or consequences for the regimes—is precisely what fuels the desperation of those who have been waiting for decades for Washington's words to translate into action.
For many Cubans, Rubio's message sounds all too familiar: “After Iran, that is, never”.
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