The U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, made statements to the press about Cuba in Paris on Monday, where he is participating in the G7 foreign ministers' meeting. He warned that Washington will do everything possible to help the island move toward a better future, although this ultimately depends on the regime itself.
"In the end, our goal is for Cuba to have a better future. We will do everything we can to help guide it toward that future, but ultimately, it will be necessary for them to wake up and understand that there is no future in the path they are currently following," Rubio stated, according to a video released by the State Department.
The head of U.S. diplomacy described the Cuban regime as a system that deliberately restricts the freedoms of its population to maintain its control. "The problem with Cuba is that the regime is afraid to grant its people any kind of freedom, whether economic or otherwise, because it prefers to control them," he pointed out.
Rubio explained the logic that guides Havana: to allow just enough economic activity to avoid total collapse, while not relinquishing control. "What that regime tries to do, and has always done, is to permit enough economic activity to be a third world country, but not a fourth world one. However, it does not want to lose control over the people," he specified.
The Secretary of State emphasized that this model has had a direct consequence: the massive exodus of Cubans from the island. "This model does not work, and the only thing it has caused is that millions of people leave Cuba, many of them heading to the United States," he said, labeling the situation a threat to "national security and national interests" of his country.
Rubio also targeted GAESA, the business conglomerate of the Armed Forces, accusing it of enriching itself at the expense of the population. “There are people within that regime who have millions and millions of dollars hidden in bank accounts all over the world,” he stated, adding that the military conglomerate “has been stealing from the Cuban people the little that they have.”
Regarding the embargo, Rubio was unequivocal: "Our embargo against Cuba is established by law and requires political freedom to be lifted," dismissing any possibility of easing it without real political changes on the island.
A journalist asked him if the public call he made in October to Cubans to collaborate with the CIA had yielded any results. Rubio replied cautiously: "I wouldn't tell you if I had obtained any results from the CIA. Because then those people wouldn't fare very well."
That call, to which the agency itself responded the following day with instructions in Spanish for Cubans to contact them, was described as "not very serious" and "childish" by the Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez.
Despite acknowledging the difficulty of the situation, Rubio reiterated the commitment of the Trump administration. "They are a very stubborn group of people, but we will continue to work on this because it is a priority," he concluded.
The statements come just days after the State Department announced new sanctions against entities and individuals connected to the Cuban regime, including immediate family members of GAESA leaders and the blockade of five vessels, as part of a sustained pressure campaign throughout 2026.
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