Rubio targets – Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted a five-minute Spanish video to Cuban people on Cuban Independence Day, arguing that Cuba’s daily shortages are driven by the Castro-linked conglomerate GAESA and offering a conditional U.S. package of $100 million in food
On Cuban Independence Day, Secretary of State Marco Rubio chose a quiet but pointed message—five minutes in Spanish, posted to social media, aimed not at the Cuban government but at the people living under it.
Rubio. who was born in Miami to Cuban immigrant parents. released the video Wednesday with English subtitles. speaking directly to Cubans as rhetoric from President Donald Trump and others in his administration has turned sharper. Trump has suggested the U.S. may take military action against Cuba. repeatedly hinting that Washington would pursue an approach similar to the one used in early January to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro. The political pressure has also included talk of potentially indicting Raúl Castro.
Rubio has long been a vocal critic of the Castro regime and the “incompetent communists” running Cuba—including current leader Miguel Díaz-Canel. In the video. he framed the suffering Cubans say they are experiencing as something with a name and a chain of responsibility. not as a vague consequence of U.S. policy.
He described “unimaginable hardships” Cubans are enduring and said the blame belongs to the Castro regime. He also told viewers that the U.S. is “offering to help you, not only to alleviate the current crisis, but also to build a better future.”
Then Rubio went after a familiar talking point. He said the reason Cubans are forced to “survive 22 hours a day without electricity” is not because of an oil “blockade” by the United States. In his account. the real cause is internal—those who control the country “have plundered billions of dollars” while making no effort to help the people.
Rubio laid out what he believes is the mechanism behind that system: a company called GAESA. which he said Raúl Castro founded thirty years ago. GAESA—Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A.—is described in a recent investigative report by The New York Times as a “secretive military-run conglomerate. ” estimated to control between 40 percent and 70 percent of the Cuban economy. Rubio’s message pointed to the company’s reach across the island’s daily life and its economic chokepoints. including much of Cuba’s tourism industry and the top luxury hotels. resorts. restaurants. and recreational facilities that cater to foreign visitors.
GAESA, Rubio said, also holds influence across grocery stores, gas stations, banks, and currency exchanges. In the video. he argued that this is why Cuba asks its people for “sacrifices” while money flowing through GAESA is not used to help them—and while the regime keeps “repressing anyone who dares to complain.”.
Rubio contrasted Cuba with neighboring countries. He pointed to the freedoms people have across the region. including voting rights and economic rights. saying that Cubans face something those neighbors do not. He asked why owning your own business and having the right to vote is possible “all around Cuba. ” naming the Bahamas. the Dominican Republic. Jamaica. and even Florida—“and even just 90 miles away.”.
He argued that the Cuban government has been offering the illusion of change while keeping power in the hands of the same apparatus. In his words, Trump was “offering a new relationship between the U.S. and Cuba,” but it must be with “you, the Cuban people,” not with GAESA.
Rubio said that offer would include “$100 million in food and medicine for you, the people.” But he insisted on conditions: the distribution would have to be handled directly by the Catholic Church or other trusted charitable groups—not stolen by GAESA “to sell in one of their stores.”
“The Cuban people are not interested in permanent charity,” Rubio said. “You want the opportunity to live in your own country the way your relatives live in the U.S. or in other countries of the world.”
He also pushed a political argument about who gets to profit and who gets to speak. Rubio said Cubans were represented at the “top of virtually all industries. ” including media. entertainment. sports. politics. and business. “in all countries. except one: Cuba.” Inside Cuba. he said. profitable businesses are concentrated among the “GAESA elite” or those close to it.
Rubio’s pitch to viewers was that the U.S. was seeking leverage to restructure the rules of economic life and political participation. He said the U.S. was “offering a new path…a new Cuba. ” where ordinary Cubans—not just GAESA—could own a gas station. a clothing store. or a restaurant. and could open a bank or run a construction company. He also described a Cuba where “the Communist Party of Cuba” would not be the only gatekeeper to power. arguing that Cubans should be able to own a television station or a newspaper. complain about a failing system without fear of going to jail. and choose who governs the country through voting to replace leaders “if they are not doing a good job.”.
Rubio closed by tying the message back to the broader U.S. posture toward Cuba: he said the U.S. was “ready to open a new chapter in the relationship between our people and our countries,” and that “currently, the only thing standing in the way of a better future are those who control your country.”
The timing mattered. Numerous media outlets have reported that the Trump administration intends to indict Raúl Castro. the 94-year-old brother of the late dictator Fidel Castro. this week. Raúl Castro led Cuba after Fidel Castro became ill and then turned over the position to Díaz-Canel in 2021. For now, the Cuban government remains defiant and has vowed it is ready to defend against any U.S. attacks.
Rubio’s video spread beyond his account almost immediately. Wall Street Journal national security reporter Vera Bergengruen shared it and highlighted what she described as a shift in his usual rhetoric. writing that Rubio “largely stays away from the usual vocabulary. ” not calling Cuba a dictatorship and mentioning the Communist Party only in passing. She said the video makes “an economic case against military-run conglomerate GAESA.”.
The choice to focus on GAESA—its alleged control of major sectors and its purported chokehold on money. goods. and opportunity—gave Rubio’s message a specific target at a moment when the broader U.S. pressure campaign has centered on the possibility of indictment and even military escalation. The result was a direct appeal: pressure from Washington. yes—but also an attempt to draw a line between the Cuban people and the machinery Rubio says has been running the country.
Marco Rubio GAESA Cuba Independence Day Raúl Castro Miguel Díaz-Canel Nicolás Maduro United States foreign policy U.S. military action against Cuba indict Raúl Castro Vera Bergengruen