On Cuba’s Independence Day, Rubio and US Lawmakers Demand End to Communist Rule

Cuban American leaders have called for the release of political prisoners and the fall of communist rule.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifies before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 20, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

A group of Cuban American members of Congress and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio have called for Cuba’s freedom and the release of more than 1,000 political prisoners as part of a commemoration of the archipelago’s Independence Day.

“Cuba will be free again! Today, May 20, we honor the birth of the Republic of Cuba and all the brave people who continue to fight against tyranny. Freedom is not negotiable,” Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) wrote on social media platform X.

In a separate post, Salazar, the daughter of Cuban exiles, said that May 20 “marks the birth of a dream once realized, an independent Cuban republic.”

“My hope is that the brutal communist Cuban regime will fall and the promise of a free and prosperous Cuba will be restored!” she wrote.

Rubio, who is the son of Cuban immigrants, also expressed his “unwavering support and solidarity with the Cuban people.”

“I commend all those who have stood up against over six decades of brutal repression, censorship, and human rights violations at the hands of the illegitimate Cuban regime,” he wrote in a statement released on May 20. The Cuban regime is led by Miguel Díaz-Canel, secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba.

“Their tireless advocacy for a free, democratic, and prosperous Cuba remains a beacon of hope and resistance for the world. Today we honor their sacrifice, courage, and resilience.”

Rep. Carlos A. Giménez (R-Fla.), who was born in Cuba, called for an end to impunity and demanded the release of political prisoners.

“From the United States Congress, we demand the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners unjustly imprisoned in the dungeons of the murderous dictatorship in Cuba,” Giménez wrote.

“Enough impunity!” he added in capital letters.

Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.), whose parents are Cuban, called for the release of Cuban political prisoners, particularly four prominent Cubans who are imprisoned.

“123 years ago, the Cuban nation achieved its independence from Spain,” Díaz-Balart wrote on X.

“Tragically, the Cuban people remain oppressed under a brutal murderous dictatorship that does not respect human and fundamental rights and continues to unjustly imprison Jose Daniel Ferrer, Felix Navarro, Maykel ‘Osorbo’ Castillo Pérez, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, and so many brave Cubans who simply cry out to live in freedom. But this has not broken the spirit of the Cuban people, who tirelessly fight for a free Cuba,” he said.

“The Cuban people will be free, and they will remember those who stood by them,” he wrote.

On May 20, 1902, the Cuban flag was flown alone for the first time at the Castillo del Morro, a fortress in the port of Havana, ending centuries of Spanish rule.

It is a date that the Cuban communist regime has tried to discredit with the argument that true independence came with the communist revolution. Led by Fidel Castro, the communists came to power in Cuba in 1959. Although Castro and his allies did not initially declare themselves communist, by 1961, Cuba was officially declared a Marxist-Leninist one-party state.