The question has been circulating among the Cuban exile community for months, and this Friday it returned to the forefront of the debate: Is Washington truly committed to a change in Cuba, or are the statements from the Trump Administration just rhetoric without substance? The Cuban-Spanish analyst Sayde Chaling Chong shared his "cautious hope" during the discussion on Friday.
"Cuba is one of the many problems that need to be resolved in the world. They are working tirelessly because the order has come from above, and they are doing it. And there are other priorities," stated Chaling-Chong, acknowledging that Europe and Spain also have other priorities.
However, Chaling-Chong does not rule out that something may happen before the end of the year. "I hold onto the hope that this could happen in 2026 because 2026 is not over," he noted.
That hope coexists with a frustration that Chaling-Chong himself does not hide: "One would love to wake up in the morning and learn that they dropped a drone where Raúl lives and erased it. We would love that. But well, if it's going to happen, it will happen when they deem it appropriate."
The debate comes at a time of heightened diplomatic tensions. The UN resolution against the Cuban embargo, approved on October 28, recorded the worst outcome for the regime since 1992: 130 votes in favor, compared to 165 in 2025 and 187 in 2024, with 17 votes against and 25 abstentions.
This diplomatic blow was joined by the expulsion of Cuban diplomat Richard Tur from the Concepción, who was declared persona non grata by Marco Rubio following an attack on an American official at the UN premises on October 27.
Another facet of the debate is the controversial invitation from Rubio to Cubans to collaborate "discreetly" with the CIA, to which the agency itself responded with an operational guide in Spanish. In this regard, Manuel Milanés questioned the practical usefulness of this initiative with historical irony: "Those of us who grew up in Cuba know that we were all accused of being with the CIA and everyone was said to be with the CIA. And it turns out that now no one is with the CIA, and they are inviting people to actually be with the CIA. Is that of any use?"
The regime's chancellor, Bruno Rodríguez, described Rubio's call to collaborate with the CIA as "childish" this Friday. When Rubio himself was asked why he was promoting contact with the CIA instead of peaceful avenues, he replied tersely, "I can't answer that."
For his part, analyst Frank Rodríguez, who asserts his right as an American citizen to demand consistency from President Trump, recalled the words he heard directly from the president: "I want to help these people, those who are in Cuba and those who had to leave Cuba so they could return. I did not dictate those words to him."
Rubio declared in August 2026 that Cuba is "certainly a priority" for the Trump administration and that he hopes the island will move towards an "irreversible" future before the end of the term. The gap between those words and concrete results is precisely what fuels the skepticism that runs through the Cuban exile community.
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