November 14, 2026
U.S. President Donald Trump has once again signaled his intention to impose his interests on Cuba by force. In a telephone interview with Salem News Channel, he stated that he wants to “get the Cuba issue resolved” before leaving the White House in January 2029, and designated Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the person responsible for executing this strategy. When specifically asked about the possibility of a U.S. military intervention on the island, he replied: “I would consider it.”
These statements constitute a new threat to Cuba’s sovereignty and highlight the persistence of a policy of interference that Washington seeks to impose on an independent nation. Trump makes no mention of respecting the will of the Cuban people or their right to determine their own political system; instead, he speaks of “resolving” the Cuban matter within his presidential term—as if the future of a sovereign nation were a prerogative of the White House.
“I want to get the Cuba issue resolved before I leave, and we have someone very good and talented to handle Cuba — Marco, Marco Rubio. His parents are from Cuba, and he would love to do it,” Trump declared. In doing so, he has assigned the Secretary of State a central role in Washington’s strategy to force changes on the island.
This military threat does not stand alone; it accompanies an increasingly aggressive economic war. Since January 2026, the Trump administration has intensified restrictions on oil supplies, as well as sanctions and pressure on third-party countries and companies, to block their economic relations with Cuba. This energy blockade imposes immense hardships on the population, affecting electricity generation, transportation, production, and essential services. This is a strategy of economic strangulation that seeks to multiply daily hardships and suffering, pushing the population toward desperation.
Compounding this economic war is an escalation of military intimidation: the threat of intervention also serves as an instrument of psychological warfare, intended to sow fear, uncertainty, and instability.
Washington’s imperial bullying aims to turn economic pressure and the threat of armed force into tools to break the will of an entire people. The U.S. administration acts as if it has the right to determine Cuba’s destiny, violating the principles of national sovereignty and non-interference that ought to govern international relations.
Rubio at the helm of the strategy against Cuba
The mention of Marco Rubio is no coincidence. He has long promoted a policy of “maximum pressure” against Cuba, advocating for the necessity of forcing political and economic transformations on the island. This week, he once again challenged the Cuban system, conditioning any lifting of the blockade on political and economic changes.
For his part, Trump described Cuba as an “essentially failed” country and claimed to have broad support within the Cuban-American community in Florida. Republican Congressman Carlos Giménez publicly endorsed these remarks, responding with a message directed at the former president: “Do it, President Trump!”
The White House’s rhetoric thus combines the denigration of the Cuban system, economic pressure, threats of intervention, and the political instrumentalization of the Cuban diaspora.
Díaz-Canel: “Cuba’s future will never be decided in the North”
In response to these new warnings from Washington, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel rejected the notion that the United States could determine the island’s fate. “The future of Cuba will never be decided from the North,” he stated on the social media platform X.
Although both governments have maintained discreet contacts, no concrete agreements have been announced. Meanwhile, Washington maintains its policy of maximum pressure and leaves open the possibility of resorting to military force.
It is clear that Cuba’s sovereignty—like that of any other nation—is neither negotiable nor subject to the electoral timelines of any U.S. president. Neither the energy blockade, nor the sanctions, nor the threats of invasion grant the United States any right to determine the future of the Cuban people.
Source: Cubavision, translation Ed Newman, RHC