Chapter 1: What geographical and historical context sets the stage for the Cuba crisis?
Only 90 miles separates the U.S. from Cuba, roughly a one-hour flight from Miami. But while closed geographically, decades of geopolitical tensions have created a deep and lasting divide.
Cuba has an economy that doesn't work and a political and governmental system that can't fix it. So they have to change dramatically. What they announced yesterday is not dramatic enough. It's not going to fix it. So they've got some big decisions to make over there.
Hello and welcome to USA Today's The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Tuesday, March 24th, 2026. Joining me to discuss the current crisis in Cuba and the evolution of Secretary of State Marco Rubio is USA Today White House correspondent Francesca Chambers.
Chapter 2: How is Marco Rubio's role significant in the current U.S. strategy towards Cuba?
It's always good to have you here, Francesca. Thanks so much. Start us out by telling us about the Trump administration's strategy toward Cuba.
So President Donald Trump has put Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is a Cuban-American and a former Florida senator, in charge of these talks with Havana. Now, we know that he has spoken to Raulito Castro, who is the grandson of former leader Raul Castro. And we also know now that Rubio and the Trump administration have also been in talks with the current president, Miguel Diaz-Canel of Cuba.
But what is in this potential agreement? That is something that we know what's been under discussion. A few of the things it focuses on economic reforms, and they've talked about an off ramp for Diaz Canal. They've also talked about the Castro family being able to stay on the island, but we don't know exactly what is on the table at this moment, especially as the president has talked about a
friendly takeover, or as he told me a few weeks ago, it could be an unfriendly takeover of Cuba. He's talked about both.
We've now recently seen attempts at regime change in Venezuela and Iran. About a week ago, we heard this comment from President Donald Trump.
I do believe I'll be the honor of having the honor of taking Cuba. That'd be good. That's a big honor.
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Chapter 3: What are the main components of the potential agreement with Cuba?
Taking Cuba. Taking Cuba in some form, yeah. Taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it, I think I can do anything I want with it. You want to know the truth?
Francesca, how should Americans interpret the president's statement here?
Well, right, exactly. He has talked about taking Cuba. He's talked about freeing Cuba. And I think he said that he could do whatever it is that he wants with Cuba in the end. It's not exactly like Venezuela, though. People who are close to the administration, as well as experts, have told me because in Venezuela, the United States...
had Delcy Rodriguez, who's currently the acting president, was the number two to Nicolas Maduro. Here, this is an unclear situation if the United States did want to pursue regime change. And by the way, Marco Rubio has previously testified in the Senate that it wouldn't necessarily be pursuing that as part of its strategy towards Cuba. But it's not clear if the U.S.
has identified someone yet who's not related to the Castros, by the way, who would be able to fulfill that role. There's a question about whether or not the United States would accept anybody who's related to the Castros. The law that was codified in 1996, the Helms-Burton Act, which codified the U.S.
embargo against Cuba, specifically says that Fidel Castro, Raul Castro would no longer be in government for an embargo to be lifted.
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Chapter 4: What actions has the Trump administration taken regarding Cuba?
Some of the other conditions that would have to be met are freedom of speech, as well as the release of political prisoners that are inside of Cuba. So even if the United States is able to get some sort of an economic agreement
With the Cuban government or with the Castros, there's still a whole bunch of other steps that would have to happen here for this embargo that's been on Cuba from the United States for decades to be lifted.
What actions has the administration taken so far and why do you describe this as a make or break moment for Rubio?
Well, it's a meager moment for Marco Rubio because so much of his political career has rested on this. I mean, he interned in the office of the first Cuban-American member of Congress. He also volunteered on the campaign of another Cuban-American member of Congress. And then they became his mentors. And he...
rests on their shoulders i've heard from friends of marco rubio so this is something that's really driven him his entire political career but his own parents left cuba before fidel castro took power and they came to the united states for economic opportunity he grew up in a community of cuban exiles So this isn't something that's just important to him.
And I visited South Florida and I talked to some of his former constituents and they said that they trust Rubio to be able to get some sort of an agreement that relieves oppression inside of Cuba.
As far as the Trump administration and what its approach has been, it has been focused on an economic pressure campaign against Cuba to try and force it to make the changes that it wants to see ever since the capture of Maduro in Venezuela. The Trump administration has been choking off oil supplies to Cuba.
The only way that they're sending the oil is by sending it through private businesses that exist in Cuba to try and force an economic opening. They've also gotten Mexico to stop selling oil to Cuba as well, which has made Cuba economically reliant on the United States. That has been the strategy.
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Chapter 5: How does the Trump administration's approach differ from Biden's regarding Cuba?
so far. But again, President Trump has said repeatedly that if he doesn't see what he needs to see here, that he could take additional action. Marco Rubio himself said in the Oval Office last week that the economic reforms that Cuba's announced in its wake, they aren't dramatic enough. And then he also said that they want to see the leaders of Cuba change.
Can you tell us how this administration's approach differs from the Biden administration's? Where did U.S. relations with Cuba stand at the end of the Biden administration?
So as former President Joe Biden was leaving office, his administration did a deal with Cuba that called for the release of more than 500 prisoners there, political prisoners. And it also removed Cuba from the state sponsor of terrorist and gave Cuba a six month waiver from that embargo that I was talking about before.
On the first day of the Trump administration, President Trump came in and he rescinded a lot of the actions that Biden had taken, not just with respect to Cuba, but with respect to a number of other things, too. So that's a big difference between the Trump administration and the Biden administration.
It's important here to note that when Rubio was asked about the embargo, he himself didn't exactly weigh in on it. He noted that it is something that Congress has codified. And he also said that for the embargo to be lifted, there would have to be political change inside of Cuba.
As you mentioned, Rubio hasn't commented on the conversations he's had with Cuba. But how has President Diaz-Canel responded to the latest tensions, which have included calls for him to step down?
Rubio has called Cuba a disaster, and the president has said that a deal is being negotiated here. But as a yes, as you noted before, you know, the Trump administration has been careful not to say anything
publicly exactly what it is talking to the cuban government and the castro specifically about what diaz canal has said is that they are having talks with the administration that came after we had already known though that that rubio was negotiating with the castros francesca might we see a peaceful transition here as cuba made its demands clear
So for a long time, the Cuban government has had a red line about its form of government, its system of government and political change inside of the country. At the same time, they want to see the embargo lifted. They think that the embargo is illegal. They say it's a violation of international law. But in order for that embargo to be lifted, Congress would have to take action.
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Chapter 6: What are the implications of the Helms-Burton Act on U.S.-Cuba relations?
That's something that they're pushing for. Whereas in the Obama administration, that wasn't what the Obama administration has specifically said the policy was.
You wrote that as a child, Rubio told his grandfather he would one day raise an army of exiles to overthrow Castro and become president of a free Cuba. Now as Secretary of State, does the idea of a free Cuba still guide him?
Friends of Marco Rubio have told me that that is a clear through line in his career, that that is something that he wants to see. It's something that drives him. And even as, you know, President Trump, he has talked about the same thing. He's said that he wants to see this. You know, he knows a lot of business people, you know, having lived in Florida himself.
This is something that President Trump has himself talked about for a long time before he was president. But it's different for Marco Rubio because he is himself Cuban-American. And I asked the president at a recent news conference about Marco Rubio as a negotiator. and why the American people should trust him to negotiate this.
And the president himself raised some of these aspects for Marco Rubio. I would also note the friends of Rubio have said that no matter what happens here, that Marco Rubio is not going to stop until he sees a free Cuba.
Is there any sort of a timeline here? What will you be watching for next?
Well, the president has said, including at the Doral Summit, the Latin American leader summit that he had in March, that he wants to see the end to the conflict with Iran, that he joked at one point that Marco Rubio wants a few days off in between. He said maybe he'll give him an hour. So he has signaled that the administration will be turning to
Cuba in one form or another as soon as it wraps up the conflict in Iran. And we know that these talks are taking place behind the scenes.
Francesca Chambers is a White House correspondent for USA Today. It's always good to have you here, Francesca. Thanks so much. Thanks to our senior producer, Kaylee Monahan, for her production assistance. Our executive producer is Laura Batey. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending a note to podcasts at usatoday.com. Thanks for listening. I'm Dana Taylor.
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Chapter 7: How has Marco Rubio's personal background influenced his political stance on Cuba?
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