No 'escape valve' for Cuba, Rubio warns; island 'cannot wait' for Trump's term to end

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has issued a stark warning to Cuba, stating there will be no "escape valve" from Washington's pressure for radical changes on the island. Rubio asserted that Cuba cannot afford to simply wait out the remainder of Donald Trump's presidency, as it will not find a new "sponsor" after losing its key ally, Venezuela.

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What we are trying to teach them is that there are no escape valves. Every time they create a new mechanism to try to get out of the blockade, we simply block it.

"What we are trying to teach them is that there are no escape valves. Every time they create a new mechanism to try to get out of the blockade, we simply block it," Rubio told Axios, referring to recent reforms by the Cuban government aimed at incentivizing the private sector. He emphasized that the Castro government in Havana can no longer "wait for time to pass" and expect the U.S. to back down on measures designed to force economic and political reforms.

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This situation is not going to disappear in the next two and a half years.

Rubio pointed out that Cuba is facing a difficult situation, lacking both an external sponsor and the significant attention it once received from the United States. "For the first time in its history, Cuba lacks two elements it has always relied on: an external sponsor and the lack of attention from the United States, which did not consider it an absolute priority," he said. He predicted that Havana will not find a new sponsor in the next two and a half years, fundamentally altering the island's geopolitical dynamics.

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For the first time in its history, Cuba lacks two elements it has always relied on: an external sponsor and the lack of attention from the United States, which did not consider it an absolute priority.

The U.S. has intensified pressure on Cuba, including sanctions against its military leadership and designating the island as a state sponsor of terrorism. This has exacerbated Cuba's existing economic crisis, which has been further strained by a U.S. oil blockade and internal mismanagement. Recent widespread blackouts and shortages of basic goods have fueled popular discontent with the government of Miguel Díaz-Canel.

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Havana is not going to find a sponsor in the next two and a half years. That is the dynamic that has changed. This has put them in a very difficult situation.