In a pre-announcement video address delivered Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a second-generation Cuban-American, laid out a purported “new path” for the Cuban people, just hours before the U.S. Department of Justice was scheduled to unseal criminal indictments against former Cuban President Raul Castro.
Speaking directly to Cuban citizens in Spanish, Rubio launched sharp criticism at Cuba’s ruling communist government, leveling accusations of systemic theft, deep-seated corruption, and widespread political oppression. As the child of Cuban immigrants who built a life in the United States, Rubio framed the proposal as an initiative backed by the Trump administration: “President Donald Trump is offering a new path between the U.S. and a new Cuba, a nation where you will hold the real power to choose your leaders, and vote them out if they fail to deliver for you.”
Worsening bilateral friction has defined relations between Washington and Havana in recent months, sparked by two key escalations: a U.S.-backed military operation that ousted long-time Cuban ally Nicolas Maduro from Venezuela’s presidency, followed by a sweeping U.S. energy blockade that has compounded already severe economic struggles on the Caribbean island. Trump has repeatedly hinted that the current Cuban government is the next target for regime change, and earlier this month made an extraordinary public statement claiming the U.S. would “take over” the island — located just 90 miles off the coast of Florida — “almost immediately.”
Per an official English translation of the speech released by the State Department, Rubio emphasized that Washington was prepared to reset relations between the two countries. “In the U.S., we are ready to open a new chapter in the relationship between our people and our countries, and currently, the only thing standing in the way of a better future are those who control your country,” he said.
Rubio reserved particular criticism for GAESA, the military-linked business conglomerate that analysts estimate controls roughly 40 percent of Cuba’s total economic activity. He described the entity as a “state within the state” that operates with no accountability to the Cuban public, hoarding profits from its vast commercial holdings to benefit a tiny ruling elite while ordinary Cubans bear the cost. Rubio added that the nominal Cuban government’s primary function is to force continued public sacrifice and crack down on any dissenting voices that speak out against the status quo.
The 94-year-old Raul Castro, who succeeded his older brother Fidel Castro as Cuba’s head of state and oversaw the landmark 2015 normalization of diplomatic relations with Washington under the Obama administration — a deal Trump reversed after taking office — was set to face criminal charges announced by the U.S. Justice Department Wednesday. According to reporting from CBS News, which cited unnamed U.S. officials briefed on the investigation, the pending indictment centers on the 1996 downing of two civilian aircraft flown by anti-Castro activists.