The US Secretary of State attributes the island’s crisis to the failure of the political model and calls for “drastic changes”
14ymedio, Havana, March 17, 2026 — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on Tuesday, dismissed the latest economic reforms announced by the Cuban government, making it clear that, in his view, the island’s problems cannot be solved with partial adjustments or limited openings. “Cuba has an economy that doesn’t work within a political and governmental system incapable of correcting it. Therefore, they have to make drastic changes,” Rubio stated.
The remarks were made to the press from the Oval Office during an appearance alongside Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin. The Secretary of State added: “That revolution isn’t even a revolution. What they have has survived thanks to subsidies from the Soviet Union and [then] Venezuela. They no longer receive subsidies, so they are in serious trouble.”
Trump, for his part, did not develop a complete thesis on Cuba during that exchange, but he did introduce a phrase that points to the other historical support of the Cuban regime. “The relationship we have with Venezuela is, I would say, almost unbelievable,” the president commented.
“What they announced yesterday isn’t drastic enough; it’s not going to solve the problem.”
The day before, the Havana regime had announced new provisions to permit Cubans residing abroad, under certain immigration categories, to participate in private businesses on the island, including as owners, and to open foreign currency bank accounts in Cuban banks. For Washington, however, this opening does not alter the core of the problem: the system remains incapable of sustaining itself without external assistance, and the current leadership, according to Rubio, does not know how to pull it out of collapse.
The US Secretary of State went further: “What they announced yesterday isn’t drastic enough; it’s not going to solve the problem.” Rubio didn’t just say the reforms were insufficient, but presented the power structure itself as an obstacle: “Those in charge don’t know how to fix it. So they have to put new people in charge. That’s what I think.”
Adding to this hardening of rhetoric is another sign revealed Tuesday by The New York Times, according to which Washington has conditioned any eventual agreement with Cuba on the departure of Miguel Díaz-Canel. According to the report, U.S. officials conveyed to Cuban negotiators that the president should resign, although without demanding immediate changes to the rest of the power structure.
“They have important decisions to make there.”
Rubio’s words came at the worst possible time for Havana. Cuba continues its efforts this Tuesday to recover from yet another collapse of the national electrical system, the third in just four months, a sequence that has turned the exceptional into the routine.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines reported a “complete disconnection” of the system, while authorities tried to restore service piecemeal, with microsystems and the gradual start-up of some thermoelectric plants.
Regarding the possibility of easing the sanctions that Washington maintains on Cuba, the Secretary of State stressed that any relief will still be conditional on a political change on the island, given that the embargo is codified by law.
Despite the economic collapse, the blackouts, and the harsh statements made from the Oval Office, there is no sign of real political opening on the island. On the contrary, the repression of protests, the persecution of dissenting voices, and the surveillance of journalists, activists, and opposition members continue. Marco Rubio passed the buck to Cuba: “They have important decisions to make there.”
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