Cuba’s communist dictatorship has never had to deal with a U.S. Secretary of State who knows exactly what they are and the threat they present to the U.S. and the region, and that’s got them shaking in their jackboots. The Castro regime is barely clinging to power, besieged by natural disasters, 65 years of failed socialist policies, and a population that is losing fear. A Marco Rubio is the last thing they need.
An editorial from Diario de Cuba explains (my translation):
Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, faces the agony of Castroism
The news couldn’t be worse for the regime in Havana, entrenched in immobility and overwhelmed by stubborn reality: presumably, there will be no concessions given for nothing in return.
The confirmation that Senator Marco Rubio will become the next head of U.S. diplomacy represents a major decision in Donald Trump’s second administration. Rubio will become the Cuban American—and also the first Hispanic—with the highest political rank in U.S. history.
This, along with the longstanding Cuban presence in the U.S. Senate and Congress, is an undeniable part of the success of our diaspora.
His appointment sends a clear message to the dictatorships in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, and refutes the notion that Latin America would not be a priority in Trump’s foreign policy. Rubio’s emotional ties make it impossible for him to ignore a region that has been omnipresent throughout his political career.
The news couldn’t be worse for the regime in Havana. Entrenched in immobility and overwhelmed by stubborn reality—and by natural disasters—Raúl Castro and Miguel Díaz-Canel have just realized that, most likely, there will be no concessions given without something in return. Four years will feel like an eternity for an exhausted regime.
Of course, the incoming Secretary of State won’t be able to work miracles to solve Cuba’s problems, which ultimately need to be addressed by Cubans themselves, with all the consequences that entails. What Rubio should try, however, is to reverse Latin America’s historical apathy toward the cause of democracy on the island.
The same can be expected in the European Union (EU): days before Rubio’s inauguration, the new head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, will take office in Brussels. Kallas is expected to be less accommodating toward Havana than her predecessor, Josep Borrell, but the challenge will be for the EU to stop compromising with human rights violators.
As Secretary of State, Marco Rubio will have room to act. At the most critical moment for Castroism, there are hopes for smart measures, more international alliances, better support for independent civil society, and a more effective clampdown on the military controlling Cuba’s economy—all without harming the ties between Cuban families on both sides of the Florida Straits.
Well, no. Of course, they don’t need or want him, but their worst nightmare is having the rest of the world “wake up” to Cuba’s reality (or stop being willfully blind to it) and act accordingly, including zero credit, zero freebies, zero allowances or trust. A parasite’s worst nightmare is always having no teat to suck and live off.