The US Secretary of State demands the release of political prisoners and assures that Washington is offering aid in exchange for economic and political reforms.
EFE (via 14ymedio), Los Angeles, July 12, 2026 / US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that the Trump administration will continue to use “all the tools” at its disposal against the Cuban regime, which he accused of posing a threat to US security and refusing to undertake the reforms the island needs.
“Cuba’s leaders simply must choose to commit to real reforms, peace and prosperity, before it is too late,” Rubio said in a statement released to mark the fifth anniversary of the 11 July 2021 protests.
The US Secretary of State recalled that thousands of Cubans then took to the streets to protest against shortages, blackouts and the lack of freedoms, in the largest demonstrations to have occurred in the country since 1959.
Five years after that uprising, Rubio denounced, hundreds of participants remain “unjustly” imprisoned. The Secretary of State demanded “the immediate release of these and all political prisoners in Cuba.”
Rubio also again attacked the island’s ruling elite, accusing them of appropriating the country’s scarce resources and hiding them abroad, although he did not provide concrete evidence to support that claim.
The Trump Administration has offered aid to the Cuban government, assistance for reconstruction, and “the promise of a new relationship between our two countries.”
The declarations come amid the policy of maximum pressure of the past six months applied by Washington. Restrictions on oil supplies have exacerbated blackouts, while new sanctions have increased the risk for foreign companies still operating in Cuba.
Against this scenario, the threat of more severe measures against Havana remains, including the possibility of military action, a hypothesis that gained strength after the arrest of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.
Despite the increased pressure, Rubio asserted that the Trump Administration has offered aid to the Cuban government, assistance for reconstruction, and “the promise of a new relationship between our two countries.”
He offered, specifically, that this conditioned upon the island’s authorities accepting economic and political reforms that will allow the country to open up and offer Cubans an opportunity for prosperity.
Washington maintains that lifting the pressure will depend on verifiable changes, while Havana rejects any reforms imposed from abroad and attributes the economic crisis to US sanctions.
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