Marco Rubio urges Cubans to collaborate with CIA to topple gov’t

What the report says

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called on Cubans to secretly cooperate with the CIA in an effort to bring down the island’s government, according to Al Jazeera. The appeal comes amid heightened tensions between Washington and Havana and follows President Donald Trump’s warning that he could send warships to Cuba after the Iran war.

Al Jazeera reports that the message was directed at Cubans inside the country and framed as a covert effort involving the US intelligence agency. The report does not provide details on how the appeal was delivered or whether any response came from Cuban officials or residents.

The timing is notable because Cuba is already facing severe strain from a prolonged US blockade, which Al Jazeera says has lasted 10 months and contributed to power outages and water shortages. Those conditions help explain why the story is drawing attention, as the wider US-Cuba confrontation has sharpened around security threats, economic pressure and political instability.

More broadly, the episode fits into a long-running pattern of friction between the United States and Cuba. Rubio, a longtime hardliner on Cuba policy, has often taken a confrontational stance toward the government in Havana, though the article itself focuses on this latest call for covert collaboration.