Rubio Urges Cubans to Work With CIA as Trump Revives Cuba Intervention Talk

Marco Rubio’s public call for Cubans seeking political change to partner with the CIA drew a sharp rebuke from Havana on Friday, October 23, shortly after President Donald Trump suggested that US warships could intervene near the island.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and one of the administration’s most hawkish voices on Havana, posted the message on social media. He addressed it to “those who seek to create positive change” in Cuba. “Now is the time,” he wrote, and he urged Cubans disappointed with the government to “seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discrete partnership with the CIA.” The Central Intelligence Agency is the main American spy service. Rubio did not say what such a partnership would involve, and he used the word “discrete,” which means separate, in place of “discreet,” which means private.

The post came moments after Trump spoke at a rally in South Florida. He said warships returning from the Iran war could stop off the Cuban coast. “We’ll do a little stopover,” Trump said. “Actually, what we’re going to do with Cuba is, we’re going to come back from Iran. Those beautiful ships will pass Cuba. We’ll have one of them stop about 50 yards off the coast. They’ll raise their hands. And then we’re going to send Marco Rubio in to finish up the deal.” He added that Washington would “take care of Cuba” once it had dealt with Iran.

Trump first raised a tougher approach toward Cuba earlier this year but had not discussed it publicly in recent months. He returned to it after someone in the crowd shouted a question about the island. The president was campaigning days before the midterm elections. Voters have voiced concern about what the war with Iran is doing to prices, from fuel to groceries.

Cuba’s government rejected the statements. Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio wrote on X that the United States “is resorting to public recruitment for the CIA.” He added that the agency must be experiencing “a great deal of desperation or misery” to be selling its services “like a tube of toothpaste.” Havana has repeatedly accused Washington of seeking regime change on the island and of using economic pressure to destabilize its government.

Washington has held an embargo on Cuba for more than six decades, and it has stated that its goal is to change the communist government. The pressure has grown this year. An American oil blockade has deepened fuel shortages and worsened rolling blackouts, which were already driven by aging infrastructure and a collapsing power grid. The administration has also imposed new sanctions on Cuba’s nickel reserves and on enterprises linked to the military.

Those steps followed the American seizure in January of the then-Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, in a deadly raid that sharply raised tensions across the region. United Nations human rights experts have called the oil blockade a violation of international law, and rights advocates say the administration’s threats echo an imperialist approach to foreign policy.

Rubio has handled much of the administration’s Cuba policy in recent months. He met with Cuban officials to explore possible improvements in relations, but American officials said they came away unimpressed, and Washington then imposed more sanctions. In September, Rubio told the Fox News host Sean Hannity that Cuba had “already fallen” economically and that its leaders keep promoting a revolution that “has been dead for 20 years.” He said the United States would never allow Cuba to become a base for operations against American interests.

Trump has also suggested a negotiated outcome. Last month he told reporters, “I don’t think we’ll need the military,” and said Cuba “is failing very badly.” In his address to the United Nations General Assembly, he said Rubio was “deep into negotiations with Cuba.” Cuba’s foreign minister told the same gathering that Havana would stay open to dialogue with Washington, even as he denounced the sanctions.

Cuba has been in a severe economic and energy crisis since 2020. The economy has shrunk, and its roughly 10 million residents face chronic blackouts, food shortages, inflation and a lack of basic goods. The crisis has set off waves of protest and pushed hundreds of thousands of Cubans to leave, many for the United States. Earlier this week, the two countries clashed again at the United Nations, where Washington tried to build opposition to an annual resolution condemning the embargo.

The Rubio CIA appeal is one of the most direct public calls by a senior American official for internal political action in Cuba, and it is likely to raise tensions between Washington and Havana.