Berk Kutay Gokmen
14 May 2026•Update: 14 May 2026
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that it is not possible to change the trajectory of Cuba as long as the current regime remains in charge.
“There is no economy in Cuba. To the extent there’s any wealth in Cuba, it doesn’t go – it doesn’t – forget about it, it doesn’t go to the people. It doesn’t even go to the government,” Rubio said in an interview with Fox News, aired Wednesday but taped earlier this week.
“The wealth is controlled by a private – by a company owned by military generals. They take all the money… They have a company that controls all of the moneymaking there that’s sitting on $15-16 billion,” he claimed.
Rubio called Havana’s economy “broken” and “nonfunctional,” saying that it is “impossible to change it.”
“You cannot change the economic trajectory of Cuba as long as the people who are in charge of it now are in charge of it. That’s what’s going to have to change because these people have proven incapable.”
“I hope I’m wrong. We’ll give them a chance. But I don’t think it’s going to happen. I don’t think we’re going to be able to change the trajectory of Cuba as long as these people are in charge in that regime.”
Cuba is facing a fuel crisis amid the US oil embargo imposed on Jan. 30, along with widespread power outages.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that Cuba is "next" after the US military operation against Iran and that the Caribbean island will fail "soon."
