Rubio Urges Cubans to Partner With CIA: What It Means

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By TRH World Desk

Marco Rubio posted a public invitation for Cubans to form a “discrete partnership with the CIA.” It names no operation, and reactions range from praise to “putting this out on main.” Here’s the context and the risks.

New Delhi, October 24, 2026 — US Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X on Friday, urging Cubans “who seek to create positive change” to seize the moment through “a discrete [sic] partnership with the CIA,” citing “failed promises, corruption, and the privileged lives of only a few.”

Intelligence recruitment is normally done quietly. A public post from the nation’s top diplomat inviting people to work with the CIA is rare. The call comes within “a year of intensifying U.S. pressure” on Cuba’s government, and new sanctions on Cuban entities and Latin American governments moving to curb support for Havana.

RedState called the post the administration’s “strongest message” yet on Cuba. It also quoted Trump saying the U.S. would “come back from Iran,” have a ship stop off Cuba’s coast, and then “send Marco Rubio in to finish up.”

Rep. Carlos Giménez, the only Cuban-born member of Congress, thanked Rubio for his leadership and wrote that the regime “must be relegated to the ash heap of history.” Sceptics were blunter. One X user asked whether advertising a CIA partnership on social media was wise, and journalist Ryan Grim wrote: “Rubio is just putting this out on main.”

The logic is easy to see. The message may be aimed at disillusioned insiders in Cuba’s military and bureaucracy, and at the diaspora, and it reinforces a pressure campaign that already includes sanctions and oil cutoffs.

The risks are equally visible. A public invitation could expose anyone who responds, hand Havana a ready-made story of foreign subversion, and complicate diplomacy. Supporters would say the opposite: that Cuba’s leadership has hoarded resources while ordinary Cubans lack power and food, and that signalling support for change is overdue.

Under Trump’s second term, US has carried out an overthrow of Venezuelan leadership. The US bid to force change the regime in Iran has come unstuck so far, throwing the Middle East into a prolonged turmoil.