Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday urged Cubans seeking political change to work with the CIA, posting a direct appeal on X just hours after President Donald Trump told a Florida rally that Washington would "take care of Cuba" once it has dealt with Iran.
"To those who seek to create positive change in Cuba - now is the time," Rubio wrote. "The disappointment of failed promises, corruption, and the privileged lives of only a few; seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discrete partnership with the CIA."
Rubio did not elaborate on what such a partnership would involve. The Guardian noted he appeared to write "discrete" (separate) in error for "discreet" (private or secret).
The post landed the same day Trump, answering a shouted question from the crowd at a campaign rally in Fort Myers, Florida, said U.S. warships returning from Iran would pass Cuba — with one stopping about 50 yards off the coast — before Rubio would be sent in to "finish up the deal." Trump's rally remarks were reported on the blog on Friday.
Cuba's government mocked Rubio's appeal. Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio wrote on X: "Now the United States is resorting to public recruitment for the CIA," adding: "There must be a great deal of desperation or misery within the agency for it to be forced to sell its services like a tube of toothpaste."
Hours after Rubio's post, the CIA itself posted a video on X in Spanish — Cuba's official language — outlining how people with information of interest to the agency could make contact. The agency advised visiting an official U.S. facility in person as the first option where it is safe to do so; for online contact it recommended a secure internet connection such as a VPN, a private browser, and a burner email account not linked to personal details.
Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has been handling much of the administration's Cuba policy and has long taken a hard line toward Havana's government. The appeal comes as Washington steps up pressure on the island: a U.S. oil embargo imposed earlier this year has deepened fuel shortages and blackouts amid failing infrastructure, on top of a broader American embargo in place for more than six decades. On September 18 the State Department announced fresh sanctions targeting 11 actors in Cuba's economic and security apparatus. Trump has said Cuba would be "next" for U.S. attention and in September called it a "failed state" at the United Nations, prompting the Cuban delegation to walk out.