For the last 65 years, Cubans on the island have had the backing of the world’s most powerful military, should they have chosen to use it to overthrow their government. What was evident then to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) remains evident today. The Cuban people aren’t interested in U.S. intervention. This inevitably led to the U.S. to impose over 1,000 sanctions on various entities in Cuba over decades. Hundreds of additional sanctions have been implemented since President Donald Trump took office in 2025 and even more in just the last week.
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Even today, with all the White House warmongering, Charge d’Affaires to Cuba for the U.S., Mike Hammer, utilizing hyperbolic rhetoric to try to invoke an uprising, and even Cuban American hardliners calling for a national revolt against the government, the Cuban people don’t budge. Many will argue that it’s because the government will repress them. But the reality is that the U.S. is closer to war against the island than it has been in decades. Meaning the opportunity for Cubans is there, and yet, nothing happens.
A story that has been told an insurmountable number of times, including by U.S. intelligence services, continues to be ignored in favor of stories that rationalize the suffering imposed by cruel U.S. policy. The Cuban people may have issues with their government, but they are also widely opposed to imperialist aggression. If anything, that aggression strengthens their resolve to oppose interventionism. Most countries around the world acknowledge this and, for more than 30 years, have called for an end to the economic embargo at the United Nations each year.
The Cuban people, who have sought and achieved reforms throughout the Revolution’s history and even in recent elections, can see that change is possible. Step by step, the country and its people are doing what needs to be done, atoning for past transgressions, and progressively moving forward both socially and economically. This led to the removal of some sanctions by former President Barack Obama, later proving that sanctions directly hurt the Cuban people after Cuba’s economy took off.
That is, until Trump came into office in 2017 and again in 2025.
Almost immediately after Trump took office for his first term, his administration began imposing “maximum pressure” sanctions on several countries, including Cuba. This created humanitarian crises, leading to mass migration out of multiple countries. From 2017 through 2021, Trump’s White House imposed hundreds of sanctions against Cuba, including asset freezes and travel restrictions for U.S. citizens, while adding the country to the State Sponsor of Terrorism List (SSOT). These actions directly disrupted commerce, created massive banking bottlenecks, and damaged the islands’ tourism sector, ultimately crippling Cuba’s economy again.
Despite the undeniable truth that unilateral U.S. sanctions kill hundreds of thousands each year, after Trump’s first term, the Joe Biden administration maintained sanctions on Cuba. It only moved to remove the island from the SSOT list in the last months of his presidency after finally acknowledging intelligence reports that declare Cuba is not a state sponsor of terror. After Trump took office for his second term, the White House began tightening the noose on Cuba.
Same Old Strategy
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been using his position in the White House to regurgitate decades-old rhetoric against Cuba. The claims of foreign spy bases on the island, while the only foreign base in Cuba is the U.S. base in Guantanamo, further speak to the duplicitous nature of U.S. anti-Cuba propaganda. Rubio has spread many debunked claims against Cuba and continues to repeat them, but many of those accusations have been used before.
“We should strive to develop a creditable doctrine based on self-defense against indirect aggression which would justify more drastic action, and we should seek to have that doctrine generally accepted by world opinion. At the same time, we should seek to continue our efforts to establish a multilateral base for action.” - Declassified briefings released under the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992
Self-defense against “indirect aggression” is what the foreign spy bases’ narrative is building on, and seems to be leading to a pretext suggesting a “preemptive attack” against Cuba, as noted by recent false reports about Cuba buying Iranian drones to attack Florida. Similarly, trying to foment an uprising “sparked by an incident,” as with Operation Mongoose in 1962, is still in play. The oil embargo that Trump admitted would create a humanitarian threat makes that clear. For Rubio and Trump, a revolt against the Cuban government has again not unfolded as expected.
“The program administered by the Special Group Augmented was initially known as “The Cuba Project.” It later was referred to as “Operation Mongoose.” The objective of the Cuba Project was described in a January 19, 1962 memorandum by General Lansdale as “to help the Cubans overthrow the Communist regime from within Cuba and institute a new government with which the United States can live in peace.” It stated “the operation is to bring about the revolt of the Cuban people. The revolt requires a strongly motivated political action movement established within Cuba, to generate the revolt, to give it direction towards the objective, and to capitalize on the climactic moment.” It said “The climactic moment of revolt will come from an angry reaction of the people to a government action (sparked by an incident), or from a fracturing of the leadership cadre within the regime, or both. (A major goal of the Project must be to bring this about).” The agencies were given a number of tasks to implement the project. The overall objectives of the Cuba project program were presented to the President and the Special Group by General Lansdale on January 18, 1962.” - Declassified briefings released under the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992
These outdated and antiquated actions represent just how U.S. policy toward Cuba has failed and continues to fail. For Rubio, like previous administrations, he’s brought the U.S. full circle again in that he’s attempting to weaponize decades-old tactics to rationalize aggression against Cuba. He is intentionally causing the Cuban people to suffer for refusing to bend to the U.S. and choosing to determine their own future. What scares the power players in the U.S. isn’t communists or dictators. It fears U.S. citizens demanding more from their government.
“In the atmosphere produced by Castro’s survival, U.S. efforts to promote social progress would encounter new difficulties as political leaders withheld their cooperation for programs involving domestic sacrifices and attendant political risks. In the circumstances the U. S. Government would have to be prepared to underwrite huge welfare and economic development programs and to involve itself directly in their success, always undèr some threat of withdrawal of cooperation by the Latin American governments. On the other hand, if Castro were eliminated, the U.S. would be in a much stronger position to insist upon adoption of a program of moderate, evolutionary change by the ruling groups in Latin America.”- Declassified briefings released under the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992
When people in the highest ranks of government are worried that the U.S. would have to “underwrite huge welfare and economic development programs and to involve itself directly in their success” should Castro survive, it speaks volumes. When those same people funded and supported Cubans who fled desegregation on the island and trained them to commit terrorist attacks, it showed how far the U.S. would go. Rehashing old tactics seems to indicate that Rubio is willing to go as far, if not further, than history suggests.
Read the Declassified Briefings
There are millions of documents about Cuba that have been declassified. These excerpts came from a single 36-page file. There are thousands of declassified documents that not only bolster this position about Rubio’s tactics but also validate what the U.S. is doing today using similar moves. The documents have seemingly been used like an instruction manual by various administrations, just as Marco Rubio and Trump’s cronies in the White House are doing.
Arturo is an independent freelance journalist. He has written hundreds of articles on policing, immigration, race, and Latin America. His work has been featured in outlets such as Unicorn Riot, The Antagonist Magazine, Latino Rebels, and more. Arturo is also on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads. To support his work, become a paid subscriber or donate via Venmo, PayPal, or Cash App.
I think Elian Gonzales might be in a unique position to explain the position of the Cuban people to US residents? I can't really think of someone with a history better suited than the his own. I can certainly understand why he wouldn't want to waste any more of his time and energy on people who manipulated him as a political tool when he was a child.
Biden was a failure on every level. Obama was a regular disappointment. Rubio belongs in prison.