‘Cuba Next!’: Thousands Rally for American Intervention in Communist Cuba

With successful operations against Venezuela’s former leader and the Iranian regime, Cuban Americans are hopeful their country will be Trump’s next focus.

Cuban Americans waved their country and American flags at a rally for a post-regime Cuba, in Hialeah, Fla., on March 25, 2026. Troy Myers/Epoch Times

Thunderous chants of “Cuba next,” “patria y vida,” and “libertad” echoed from thousands of Cuban Americans in Hialeah, Florida, on Tuesday evening at a rally for a post-regime Cuba.

“Patria y vida means that we get to have our country and also have life,” one of the attendees, Venus Barrera, said. “I came today to beg for an intervention so Cuba can finally be free. We have been dealing with a dictatorship for the last 67 years.”

Translated to English, “patria y vida” means “homeland and life.”

Dozens of Cubans who spoke to The Epoch Times expressed their hope that U.S. President Donald Trump will intervene to rid Cuba of what they described as a tyrannical regime that has imprisoned, punished, exiled, and killed its opposition for nearly 70 years.

Wearing “Make Cuba Great Again” hats and waving American, Cuban, and Trump flags, the thousands of attendees all synchronized in a single message: the time for freedom in Cuba is overdue.

Barrera told The Epoch Times that she has lost several close family members to the communist regime, including her brother, over the past three years.

“There’s no freedom,” Barrera said.

Cuban Americans gathered at a rally for a post-regime Cuba. Following the event, attendees stayed behind to sing and dance together, in Hialeah, Fla., on March 25, 2026. Troy Myers/Epoch Times

Cuban American influencers, opposition leaders, and local and state politicians spoke at the “Free Cuba Rally” on Tuesday night, alternating with Cuban American musicians singing songs about a free Cuba.

Barrera was born in the United States after her parents fled the island nation, which is less than 100 miles from the closest point of Florida, in search of a better life, she said. To achieve a free Cuba, there must not be any communist politicians left in power—they must leave the country entirely, she said.

“They have destroyed our country,” Barrera said. “I wouldn’t even dare go back there.”

Another attendee at the rally, 83-year-old Maria, who did not wish to provide her last name, told The Epoch Times that she arrived in the United States four months ago and had witnessed firsthand a once beautiful country turn into the failed communist state it is today, describing Fidel Castro’s far-left revolution in 1959 as a “cancer.”

Current Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel must be removed, Maria said.

“Destroy everything that has to do with communism,” the 83-year-old said.

Hialeah Mayor Bryan Calvo, who organized the event alongside city council members, told the crowd that his city stands ready to lead and support the vision of a post-regime Cuba.

Expatriates previously told The Epoch Times at length about their hopes for the Cuban communist regime to be the next in line to fall after the successful capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro by U.S. military forces.

Tuesday night’s rally in South Florida reinforced these hopes of American intervention, as top U.S. officials have repeatedly hinted that such action against Cuba could be coming.

Cuban Americans draped their country and the U.S. flag around themselves at a rally for a post-regime Cuba, in Hialeah, Fla., on March 25, 2026. Troy Myers/The Epoch Times

Trump said on March 8 that Cuba was “at the end of the line” after the nation lost its main oil provider and ally, Maduro.

Days later, while speaking at a news conference, Trump said the communist country faces severe humanitarian challenges. He also suggested the possibility of a U.S. takeover.

“It may be a friendly takeover. It may not be a friendly takeover,” Trump said.

Then, on March 17, the president told reporters at the White House: “I do believe I'll be having the honor of taking Cuba. That’s a big honor. Whether I free it, take it, I think I can do anything I want with it.”

That statement was approved of by many Cuban Americans at the Tuesday night rally.

Yeslier Sanchez, who arrived in the United States more than 30 years ago, said he believes he can speak for all Cubans in demanding dramatic change in the communist regime that’s oppressed its people for decades.

"Cuba next," thousands of Cuban Americans chanted in unison at a rally for American intervention in the island nation's communist regime. Attendees listened to politicians, influencers, musicians, and Cuban opposition leaders at the event in Hialeah, Fla., on March 25, 2026. Troy Myers/The Epoch Times

“We never forget,” Sanchez told The Epoch Times. “Everybody in the government must be held accountable for what they did over these 67 years.”

Prior to the elaborately planned and executed capture of Maduro, the Trump administration began pressuring the Venezuelan regime. The United States has been applying the same kind of tactics to Cuba.

Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 29 that would impose tariffs on any nation selling oil to Cuba. A recent 29-hour nationwide blackout, amid the U.S. oil blockade, highlighted Cuba’s crippled infrastructure.

“Cuba has an economy that doesn’t work and a political and governmental system that can’t fix it,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on March 17.

Thousands of Cuban Americans showed up for a rally to support American intervention in Cuba's communist regime. Attendees held a sign saying "Cuba Next" in Hialeah, Fla., on March 25, 2026. Troy Myers/The Epoch Times

Rubio, who is of Cuban descent, also called for dramatic change in Cuban leadership. Anytime the speakers at the Tuesday rally mentioned the secretary of state’s name, the crowd erupted in support.

With success in Venezuela and the weeks-long devastation of the Iranian regime in Operation Epic Fury, Trump could be emboldened to make a move on the communist island nation in America’s backyard next.

“We don’t negotiate with killers and assassins,” Sanchez said. “In order to have a free Cuba, they either must die or they must go.”