Cuba Mocks US 'Desperation' After Marco Rubio Publicly Urges Cubans To Pursue 'Discrete Partnership' With CIA

Cuba has ridiculed a public appeal by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging Cubans who want change on the island to work with the CIA.

Rubio posted on X on Friday 23 October 2026 that 'now is the time' for a 'discrete partnership with the CIA', and the agency followed with a Spanish-language video explaining how to make contact. Havana's deputy foreign minister said the US must be in 'desperation or misery' to sell its spy service 'like a tube of toothpaste'.

The exchange came on the same day Donald Trump again raised the prospect of US warships stopping near Cuba's coast.

Rubio's Online Pitch to Cubans

'To those who seek to create positive change in Cuba - now is the time,' Rubio wrote on X. 'The disappointment of failed promises, corruption, and the privileged lives of only a few; seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discrete partnership with the CIA.'

Rubio's post used the word 'discrete', meaning separate, though several outlets reported it as 'discreet', meaning confidential, which appeared to be the intended sense. It had been viewed more than 3.7 million times when checked on Saturday 24 October.

The CIA then posted a Spanish-language video on X explaining how to submit information. It advised people to visit an official US installation in person if it was safe to do so, or otherwise to use a secure connection, a private browser and a disposable email account.

The Cuban exile news site CiberCuba claimed the post was the first time a US secretary of state had openly called for recruiting agents in a foreign country through social media, though that historical claim could not be independently verified.

Some users questioned the approach. 'I'm no genius, but offering a "discreet partnership with the CIA" on a social media platform doesn't seem wise,' one replied.

Representative Carlos Gimenez, a Cuban-born Republican from Florida, backed Rubio. 'The regime in Havana must be relegated to the ash heap of history & I know that day is closer than ever!' he wrote.

Havana Hits Back at CIA 'Recruitment'

Cuba's deputy foreign minister, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, mocked the appeal. 'Now the United States is resorting to public recruitment for the CIA,' he wrote on X.

He said the agency must be in 'desperation or misery' to 'sell its services like a tube of toothpaste'.

Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez also hit back, dismissing remarks by Trump. He warned on X that anyone arriving on Cuba's coast 'with hostile purposes' would meet 'razor-sharp limestone spikes' along the shoreline.

Trump's Rally Talk of Warships Off Cuba

Rubio's post came hours after Trump revived the idea of military pressure on Cuba at a campaign rally in Fort Myers, Florida. The remarks were rally rhetoric rather than an announced operation. 'We'll take care of Cuba on our way back from Iran,' he said. 'Those beautiful ships, they'll pass Cuba. We'll have one of them stop about 50 yards off the coast.'

'They'll raise up their hands, and then we're gonna send Marco Rubio in,' Trump added. He said Rubio would then 'finish up the deal'.

Washington has steadily increased pressure on Havana. The US has tightened sanctions and, since January, has maintained a de facto energy blockade that threatens countries supplying fuel to Cuba, which has a population of about 9.4 million, according to AFP.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on 19 October secured a state arrest warrant charging former president Raúl Castro, 95, with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder over the 1996 shooting down of two Brothers to the Rescue aircraft, FOX 35 reported.

Castro was separately indicted on federal charges in May, a case President Miguel Díaz-Canel has called legally unfounded, according to AFP. Neither case has been tested in court.

CiberCuba reported that CIA Director John Ratcliffe visited Havana in May and demanded 'fundamental changes' as a condition for dialogue. In August, the New York Times reported that the CIA had set up a secret force dedicated to Cuba, ranked as a top priority alongside China, Iran and Russia, according to CiberCuba.

On 15 October, Rubio announced sanctions on the Cuban bank BICSA and accused the government of hosting Iranian military and intelligence operations less than 100 miles from US territory, CiberCuba reported.

In September, Rubio said some members of the Cuban leadership had 'blood-stained hands' and could not be acceptable negotiating partners, while suggesting certain technocrats could take part in a transition. On 5 October, he warned Cuban leaders to change course or learn the lesson 'the hard way', CiberCuba reported.

The two countries have held talks in recent months, but Washington is dissatisfied with progress, AFP reported. Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has questioned whether a diplomatic settlement is possible under the current leadership.

Trump has also cited US criminal charges against Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro as part of the justification for the US operation that, in AFP's description, toppled him.

In May, Trump told a dinner in the Palm Beaches that Cuba was something 'we will be taking over almost immediately', The Tribune reported.