Rubio Urges Cubans to Work With CIA Oct 23

CUBA · US POLICY

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urges Cubans to work with the CIA for political change, in a post on X on Friday 23 October 2026. The CIA followed with a Spanish-language video and guide, and Cuba’s deputy foreign minister ridiculed the offer.

Trump spoke at a midterm rally in Fort Myers, Florida, a state with a large Cuban-American community, 11 days before the 3 November elections. He said US ships returning from Iran would pass Cuba, and that he would then send Rubio to close a deal with Havana.

Our earlier report, Trump Floats Ships Off Cuba, Havana Rejects, covers the president’s remarks, and this article looks at what happens when Rubio urges Cubans to contact the CIA. Our guide What Is Going On Between Cuba and the United States? explains the longer pressure campaign.

Why Rubio Urges Cubans to Act Now

Rubio wrote that “now is the time” for those who “seek to create positive change in Cuba”. He pointed to “failed promises”, corruption and “the privileged lives of only a few”, and urged a “partnership with the CIA” to bring change.

The CIA then posted the same message in Spanish, with a video and a written guide on how to contact it safely, according to Periódico Cubano, Infobae and Martí Noticias. Periódico Cubano published its report at 9:56 p.m. ET on Friday, and the CIA’s own post is dated 24 October.

The guide is addressed to people who want to give the agency information, according to Martí Noticias. Neither Rubio’s post nor the guide, as reported, says what the agency would do with that information.

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What the CIA Guide Tells Cubans

The guide opens by saying that the safety of anyone who writes is the agency’s main concern, and that each person knows their own situation best. Cubans able to travel safely are told to go in person to an official US facility or to send someone they trust.

Everyone else is pointed to the CIA website, with advice to use a VPN, a private browser window and a new email account not linked to their identity. The guide warns that security services or other parties may see which sites a person visits, even when the pages are encrypted.

Anyone who writes is asked for their city and country, their job, the kind of access they have to information of interest, and a safe way to reply. The CIA says it will assess every message but may not answer, depending on how safe it judges the sender to be.

How Havana Answered

Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío answered on X on Friday that the United States had now turned to “public recruitment” by the CIA. In Spanish he wrote that the agency must be very desperate, or poor, to sell its offers “like toothpaste” (our translation).

President Miguel Díaz-Canel wrote on X on Friday that Washington “does not renounce its ambitions of domination” over Cuba, according to Infobae and EFE (our translation). Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez rejected “every threat” after Trump’s ship remarks.

Rodríguez said Cuba’s coast has sharp limestone points, an inhospitable setting for anyone arriving with hostile aims. The coverage reviewed shows these two replies answering US pressure and Trump, not the CIA offer.

The Pressure Campaign Behind the Post

According to EFE, the United States has sanctioned companies it links to the Cuban government, and Díaz-Canel and his associates. It has also pressed to stop Cuba importing fuel, with an oil blockade since January, the month US forces captured Venezuela’s then-president Nicolás Maduro.

On Monday 19 October Florida authorities announced an arrest warrant for former president Raúl Castro, 95, over a 1996 shootdown of two aircraft; see Florida Issues Warrant for Raúl Castro. The UN General Assembly votes on 27 and 28 October on Cuba’s annual resolution against the embargo, which won 165 votes in 2025.

In May the contact looked very different, when CIA director John Ratcliffe met Cuban Interior Ministry and intelligence officials in Havana on Thursday 14 May. The CIA said he offered to explore wider talks, conditional on “fundamental changes” by the Cuban government.

What It Means for You

For US readers the episode shows Cuba policy argued in public, at a Florida rally and on social media, days before the midterms. Travel and money rules still come from sanctions and licences, and the coverage reviewed mentions no new rule; see Can Americans Still Travel to Cuba in 2026?.

For Cubans on the island the practical question is risk, because the guide itself warns that online visits can be watched. Our Havana city guide and Who Runs Cuba’s Economy, the Key Players in 2026 give background on daily life and power on the island.

What Prediction Markets Say

Polymarket, an online prediction exchange, priced a US strike on Cuba by 31 December at 8.5% and Díaz-Canel leaving power by then at 6.5% on 24 October at 3:11 a.m. ET. The two markets have traded about US$5.47 million and US$758,000 in total volume.

These are bets, not polls and not forecasts of military action. On the platform’s own data both prices are lower than a week ago, by about 3 and 2 percentage points.

Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.

What Is Not Known

The coverage reviewed does not say what information the CIA wants from Cubans or how it would use it. The agency’s own posts could not be opened directly, so details of the video and guide rest on three outlets that describe them.

Outlets differ on whether Rubio posted just before or just after Trump spoke, and exact post times were not published consistently. It is not known whether anyone has responded, or how Cuban authorities will treat people who do.

Trump gave no date for the ship stop he described, and the coverage reviewed reports no deployment. The UN vote on 27 and 28 October will show how much international support Cuba keeps.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did Rubio say about the CIA and Cuba?

Rubio wrote on X on Friday 23 October that “now is the time” for those seeking change in Cuba. He urged them to seize the chance through a “partnership with the CIA”.

What does the CIA guide ask Cubans to do?

It asks people with information of interest to contact the agency in person at a US facility or through its website. It advises a VPN, a private browser and a new email account.

How did Cuba respond to the CIA offer?

Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío said the agency was resorting to public recruitment and must be desperate. He compared its offer to selling toothpaste.

Is the United States about to attack Cuba?

No military action has been reported, and Trump gave no date for the ships he described. Polymarket priced a US strike by 31 December at 8.5% on 24 October.

What does it mean for US travellers to Cuba?

None of the coverage reviewed mentions a new travel or sanctions rule. Existing sanctions and licence rules still apply, so check official guidance before booking.

Sources: Periódico Cubano, 23 October 2026; Infobae, 24 October 2026; Martí Noticias, 24 October 2026; El Financiero (EFE), 23 October 2026; CNN Chile (EFE), 23 October 2026; CiberCuba, 23 October 2026; ABC Color (EFE), 14 May 2026; Martí Noticias, 17 October 2026.

Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error