Rubio Calls for Dramatic Change in Cuban Leadership Amid Nationwide Blackout

‘Cuba has an economy that doesn’t work and a political and governmental system that can’t fix it,’ U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reacts as he meets with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty at the State Department in Washington on Feb. 10, 2025. Reuters/Craig Hudson/File Photo

Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on Tuesday for dramatic change within the Cuban communist regime following its third nationwide blackout in four months.

“Cuba has an economy that doesn’t work and a political and governmental system that can’t fix it,” Rubio, who is of Cuban descent, said. “So we’ve got some big decisions over there.”

His comments come amid heightened tensions with the communist regime and after President Donald Trump floated the possibility of taking over the country.

Although Cuba, which is less than 100 miles from the nearest point of Florida, generates 40 percent of its petroleum and produces its own power, it hasn’t been enough to meet domestic demand as the nation’s electric grid continues to crumble. The regime blamed its struggles on a U.S. energy blockade after Trump warned in January that the United States would be placing tariffs on any country that provided oil to the island.

A Cuban official on Monday said their country is open to trading with U.S. companies.

“They have to change dramatically,” Rubio said. “What they announced yesterday is not dramatic enough. It’s not going to fix it.”

Islandwide blackouts, affecting a population of roughly 11 million, have become increasingly frequent.

Power was slowly coming back to some infrastructure in Cuba on Tuesday afternoon. The country’s Ministry of Energy and Mines said on X that the electrical system has been restored to some “microsystems” in various territories. A local media outlet said Tuesday afternoon that more than half of the capital city of Havana was still without electricity.

Cuba’s communist government and economy are in “very bad shape,” Trump said Tuesday, adding “we’ll be doing something with Cuba very soon.”

The Trump administration has also demanded the release of political prisoners and for Cuba to move toward political and economic freedom in return for the United States lifting its sanctions.

Rubio affirmed Tuesday that the embargo is tied to political change. The Cuban regime has survived this long because of subsidies from the Soviet Union, then Venezuela, which has since ended with the U.S. capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

“They don’t get subsidies anymore, so they’re in a lot of trouble, and the people in charge—they don’t know how to fix it,” Rubio said. “They have to get new people in charge.”

Rubio’s comments followed Trump’s statements from the day prior, when he said he’ll have the “honor of taking Cuba.”

“I do believe I'll be having the honor of taking Cuba. That’s a big honor, taking Cuba in some form,” Trump told reporters at the White House during an executive order signing Monday. “Taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it, I think I can do anything I want with it.”

Trump has also pitched the idea of a “friendly takeover” of Cuba.

It remains unclear who would succeed the current leader, Miguel Díaz-Canel, if the United States takes action to dismantle the regime.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.