CIA Asks Cubans for 'Discrete Partnership' as Warships Sail Near Havana

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Cubans seeking political change to work with the Central Intelligence Agency, a call amplified Friday by President Trump at a campaign rally in South Florida.

In a post on X, Rubio wrote: "To those who seek to create positive change in Cuba - now is the time." He cited "disappointment of failed promises, corruption, and the privileged lives of only a few," and asked readers to "seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discrete partnership with the CIA." The CIA reposted the message with a Spanish-language version and a video outlining how to contact the agency. Additional sanctions targeting Cuba's state-run bank were announced last week after Washington said the institution had ties to Iran. Prices for basic goods have risen, bread lines have stretched for hours, and medical appointments have become harder to access under the U.S. embargo.

At a South Florida rally Friday, Trump described Navy warships deployed near the Strait of Hormuz passing Cuba. "We'll have one of them stop about 50 yards off the coast," he said, adding that Rubio would then be sent "to finish up the deal." Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla answered on X: "We reject any threats stemming from U.S. ambitions toward Cuba." He described the island's coastline as "also rugged and inhospitable to those who arrive with hostile intentions and a desire for domination."

Cuba's government faces a tightening economic squeeze, with basic goods priced higher and medical care harder to access. The new sanctions on its state-run bank compound pressure already applied by the existing embargo. The CIA's request for contact arrived alongside that economic pressure.

The exchange places U.S. intelligence services directly in public view as Washington presses for change in Havana. Trump's description of Navy vessels stopping near the coast and Rubio's invitation to contact the agency were both delivered Friday, hours apart, with Cuba's foreign minister rejecting the rhetoric the same day.