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Could Marco Rubio become the president of Cuba? Donald Trump has already declared on Truth Social, the idea ‘sounds good’ to him. And for Rubio – the son of two Cuban immigrants, the idea is hardly new. Long before he became one of the most powerful figures in US foreign policy, Rubio had penned about his childhood dream of leading Cuba.
In his memoir written after he was elected to the US Senate in 2010, Marco Rubio recalled how he had told his grandfather he would help free Cuba from Fidel Castro’s rule.
“I boasted I would someday lead an army of exiles to overthrow Fidel Castro and become president of a free Cuba,” Rubio, the now US Secretary of State and national security adviser had written in his 2012 memoir, “An American Son.”
Rubio's boyhood bravado has now taken on fresh resonance as the Trump administration launched ‘large scale strikes’ against Venezuela and captured former president Maduro – a longtime close ally of Cuba– in an operation where the national security advisor reportedly played a central role.
How Rubio planned Maduro's capture?
Rubio spent the months leading up to the operation carried out on January 3, 2026 – huddled at the White House with Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller to craft the strategy, sources told CNN.
Following the strikes in Venezuela, US President Donald Trump has been mounting pressure on Cuba.
On Sunday, Trump urged Cuba to ‘make a deal before its too late,’ warning that the flow of Venezuelan oil and money would now stop. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” he wrote.
Why US and Cuba have been at crosshairs?
Relations between United States and Cuba have been tense for decades since communist leader Fidel Castro overthrew a US-backed government in 1959.
While attempts were made to improve diplomatic relations, particularly under former US President Barack Obama, the Trump administration has reversed many of those moves.
Shortly after being sworn in to a second term, Trump reinstated Cuba's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, which had been lifted just days before by the then-US President Joe Biden.
Cuba-Venezuela ties
Venezuela – Cuba's longstanding ally – is believed to send around 35,000 barrels of oil a day to the island, mentioned a report by BBC.
With the Trump administration exerting control over Venezuela, Cuba has lost one of its principal economic patrons and oil suppliers.
According to a report by AP, experts have warned that a sudden halt in Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba could lead to widespread social unrest and mass migration following the US attacks against Venezuela.
“I'd be lying if I told you that I don't want to leave the country,” said 16-year-old Cuban student Amanda Gómez. “We're all thinking about leaving, from the youngest to the oldest," she told AP.
Long before the 3 January attack – which killed 32 Cuban nationals – severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people reportedly endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island's worst economic crisis in decades.
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