U.S. Secretary Of State Rubio About Cuba: "preference of our President is to solve these things diplomatically"
/Fox News
New York, New York
28 September 2026
Marco Rubio, United States Secretary of State
QUESTION: Is Cuba about to fall, and can you update us on Venezuela?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, the truth is Cuba has already fallen. It’s not – it doesn’t have a functional economy and it’s governed by people who continue to preach about some revolution that has been dead for 20 years that’s never worked. And that’s the problem they have. The problem that Cuba has basically right now is that it is a failed state in every sense of the word. Now, they may have a government that’s capable of jailing and killing people. They have a regime that’s capable of and has jailed and killed people. But it’s not a functional government and it’s not a functional country. It just simply isn’t.
And in addition to that, it’s one that’s fueled by corruption, graft, and theft. The Cuban economy – there is no Cuban economy that benefits the Cuban people. Anything that had a chance of making money in Cuba was controlled by the Cuban military and the Cuban Communist Party to line the pockets of a handful of individuals at the expense of the entire country. You know that since 2021 at least close to 20 percent of Cuba’s population has left the country? Has left it because it’s a failure, a complete failure.
So we are hopeful that Cuba will choose a different path. We are hopeful that the people that today sort of control the arms and the repressive regime, that there will be some people in there that open their eyes to the reality of what they’re facing. What they’re no longer going to do as long as Donald Trump is President is they’re no longer going to be able to steal money and make money off the backs of the Cuban people. And what we’re not going to allow ever under any circumstances as long as President Trump is President is we’re never going to allow Cuba to become a base of operation against American interests or pose a threat to our national security. On that we are abundantly clear.
As in every case – you can ask about any country or any problem in the world, and I will tell you that the preference of our President is to solve these things diplomatically and in a way that you can reach an agreement and get Cuba or any country on a path to irreversible, positive change that involves economic freedoms but also involves political freedoms. In fact, you cannot have economic freedom in Cuba if you don’t have political freedom first. You have to have both happening at least at the same time. That will require a period of transition. Unfortunately, the people that continue there to chant revolutionary slogans – too many of them – still believe that they could wait out this administration and make no changes or do nothing. They are wrong and they will learn the lesson the hard way if they don’t correct.
