US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called on people seeking change in Cuba to team up with the CIA and help bring an end to the island’s communist government. He made the appeal in a post on X on Friday.
In the post, Rubio wrote: “To those who seek to create positive change in Cuba – now is the time.” He referred to “the disappointment of failed promises, corruption, and the privileged lives of only a few” and urged citizens to pursue the change they want through a “discreet partnership with the CIA”.
Cuban officials ridicule the recruitment appeal
Cuban officials mocked the call, including Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio. On X, he wrote that the United States was “resorting to public recruitment for the CIA”, adding that the agency must be in deep desperation to sell its services “like a tube of toothpaste”.
The CIA later posted a video on X with Spanish-language instructions for people who believe they hold information of interest to the agency. It advised them to first visit a US embassy in person, if they can travel there safely.
Military threats and oil blockade weigh on Cuba
Trump and other senior US officials have for months openly hinted at military intervention and a lasting presence in Cuba, aimed at increasing economic, political and legal pressure on the country. This is far from the first time US officials have threatened the island this way.
Last month, Fernandez de Cossio told the C-SPAN programme Washington Journal that using military force against Cuba, a peaceful neighbouring country, would be an “atrocious international crime”.
The latest developments come as a US-imposed oil blockade earlier this year has left Cubans facing fuel shortages and blackouts, worsened by failing infrastructure. UN rights experts have condemned the blockade as a violation of international law, while rights advocates say the administration’s threats echo an imperialist approach.
Washington has maintained an embargo on Cuba for more than 60 years. The renewed pressure on Havana follows the US military’s capture of Venezuela’s then-President Nicolas Maduro in a deadly raid in January.
